


Easy Love

by reveetoile



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Genderswap, Girl!Matsumoto - Freeform, Girl!Nino - Freeform, Hospitalization, Illnesses, Pregnancy, Sex, Sex Toys, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-07 01:42:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 30,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14660706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reveetoile/pseuds/reveetoile
Summary: Just everyday life of Ohmiya.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have to explain something: I'm really not so sure about this story. Because I always feel weird changing genders but I wanted to write about things that happen to women... Just because of personal annoyance at some parts. So I was torn between swapping genders of one (Nino was the first coming to mind together with Jun sorry XD) or putting an OC as the girlfriend. I decided to keep it Ohmiya. And I hope I don't ruin it completely and I am always open for any comments from any of you.

Ninomiya Kazuko groaned when she entered the flat she shared with her boyfriend, Ohno Satoshi. Her day at the university had been stressful, and she just wanted to be home and relax. 

Ohno looked up when Nino entered the flat and welcomed her with a smile. “What’s wrong?” he asked, and she tried not to glare. 

“People!” she said as if that explained everything and Ohno chuckled a little. There were few days when she was like that. 

“Awww, come here, and I will massage your shoulders,” he said in a cooing voice and laughed when she glared at him. 

“I’m hungry, and I want nothing more than a shower. I feel icky,” Nino mumbled and swore when the damn straps on her shoes wouldn’t loosen. She just wanted to get lost of those. 

In the morning it had seemed like an excellent choice to wear a dark blue loose-fitting dress with black tights and shoes with slight heels. Nothing too high because Nino knew how bad she was in walking in those for too long. 

It was a foolish decision in the end. Nino felt pretty and confident until the first man looked her up and down. Something in his eyes had made her uncomfortable. She should have turned around right then and skipped lessons. But Nino had thought that now that she had forced herself out of bed and put makeup on she could also go to university. 

It had gone downhill from that. 

She cried out in joy when she finally was able to take off her shoes and moved her feet and toes before stepping over the small step on their entry and sunk into Ohno’s arms. 

They felt warm as they closed around her and she smiled when Ohno kissed her forehead softly. 

“Poor baby. I prepared everything for hamburgers because the meat was on sale. So, how about you go take that shower while I finish our dinner.”

“Sounds wonderful,” she mumbled in a dreamingly voice. The only problem was that she didn’t want to leave Ohno’s embrace right now. Ohno chuckled deep in his throat, and a shudder went through Nino as she could feel the vibrations in his throat. She kissed his throat before stepping out of his embrace with a deep sigh. 

She looked at Ohno who cupped her face with one hand. His thumb rubbed lovingly over the sensitive spot under her eye before he leant in to kiss her tenderly and oh so sweetly on the lips. 

Nino felt like melting a little at the loving smile that was on his face. “Welcome home,” he whispered, and she smiled for real this time. 

“I’m home.”

Ohno straightened and removed his hand from her face seemingly with effort before stepping back and opening the door to the bathroom. 

“Shower. Then dinner and cuddling,” Ohno promised, and she felt her heart warm up. That sounded very promising. 

Kazuko entered the bathroom and couldn’t help herself as she moved by Ohno but touch his wrist softly before closing the door. 

Inside it was warm, and she closed her eyes. Ohno had to heat the room up just for her earlier. With difficulties she removed her damn tights - they had slipped down the whole day, and of course, now they were stuck! Just her luck. 

Stepping out of the rest of her clothes was easy, and she felt like in heaven when the warm water hit her body. She felt herself relaxing slowly. All the stress of today seemed to be washed away, finally. 

Kazuko left the shower shortly after and put a big towel around herself. She made sure there was no makeup left on her face. Afterwards, she put her hair into a bun and left the bathroom. 

Ohno looked into their living room when he heard his girlfriend moving around, and a smirk appeared on his face. “Sexy.” 

Kazuko looked up and rolled her eyes as she pulled the towel tighter around herself. 

“You didn’t put any clothes in the bathroom,” she scolded making him laugh again.

“Oops, my bad,” he apologised playfully making her scoff and sticking out her tongue.

“Pervert.” With her nose up to the air, she stalked through the living room to their bedroom to change into loose comfy clothes while she tried to ignore his amused laughs. 

Dinner was served when she entered the living room again, and Ohno had put in one of her favourite movies. She grinned as she let herself fall beside him. She had the best boyfriend ever! It was so easy to forget all bad things by just being beside him.


	2. Chapter 2

Ohno looked over Nino’s shoulder and ignored her half-hearted tries o dislodge him. Nino’s shoulder had always been very comfortable, and besides, he was very bored right now. 

“What are you doing?”

“Levelling up. Could you please stop with that?” Kazuko asked and tried to shrug him off once more. Ohno grinned and dug his chin deeper into the soft flesh of her shoulder. 

“Nope, I’m very comfortable right now. Thank you.”

“Urgh. You are annoying. What’s wrong? Nothing to do? I’m sure I left you some drawing paper on the desk,” she mumbled, and he shrugged again. 

“I have no inspiration to draw right now.”

“Play with your model cars?”

“Already did that.” Even if Kazuko didn’t look up, she could see that annoying smirk clearly. How she hated Ohno sometimes.

“Make me dinner,” she tried again to dislodge him just to feel the arms worm around him in a tight embrace. “Oh-chan,” she whined finally. “I only have today for this. I can’t play another day since I have to write papers and exams are coming up and all that stuff for university. Please let me play.”

“But I’m bored. And I don’t have another time to be close to you either. As you already stated. You are kind of busy in the moment. University sucks.”

“Your fault that you didn’t apply for one.”

“University is awful. You like it more than me. It’s stealing you from me. I should go out there and kill it… If only I could,” he grumbled, and Kazuko lifted an eyebrow at that rant. Ohno sometimes was ridiculous.

She cried out in shock when Ohno bit her ear and finally stopped the game. 

“What do you think you are doing?” she demanded and glared at him. Ohno looked back innocently and entirely unapologetic. 

“You weren’t paying attention to me.”

“I was, what the hell is wrong with you?” She groaned and made space for Ohno to climb over the back of the sofa and to sit down beside her. 

“Don’t know. I feel really lonely right now,” Ohno mumbled, and she had to smile a bit at that. Softly she caressed his hair and played with the soft strands at his neck. 

“Let’s make a deal then. You will let me play for around an hour more while you cook something for us and I don’t know… Look for a movie or whatever you want to do for us, and I will stop playing for the rest of the night. We can cuddle on the sofa or the bed or wherever you want.”

Ohno’s face brightened up at those words, and he pressed a quick kiss to her plump lips. 

“Deal. I will make chahan so you better will eat it and then I want to take a bath with you and do karaoke.”

She rolled her eyes but nodded. She put a quick kiss on his cheek and smiled. 

“Then better make sure that the water is steaming hot when we finish dinner and then we can sing if you like.”

“And sex?” he asked with a playful smile, making her laugh loudly. 

“Pervert,” she scolded but winked at him. Sex was definitely okay with her as he knew more than good. To be honest everything with Ohno by her side was okay. “Go now. The hour is starting, and I will extend it if it’s your fault that I can’t play to my fullest enjoyment before it’s up,” she threatened half-heartedly. If Ohno felt as lonely as he told her she would never be able to not to give in to his demands. 

Kazuko watched Ohno go with a spring to his step and smiled. Ohno seldom really wanted something, and when he begged her like this, she would always make sure that she would be able to somehow fulfil his final wishes. She giggled almost inaudible at the humming that started in the kitchen and finally restarted her game to hopefully clear a level or two before her time was up.


	3. Chapter 3

Kazuko rolled up to a ball on the bed and closed her eyes with a loud groan. She pulled the blanket more over herself and put her arms around herself more tightly. She hated being on her period. Luckily it happened on a Saturday this time so she didn’t have to go to any classes and she wouldn’t miss anything significant. 

The only problem was that she had planned to spend the day with Satoshi at her side and work through some papers that she had put off for the last few days because she had been too stressed the last few days to do anything besides the absolute minimum to keep up with her classes. 

Kazuko growled when a hand softly pulled the blanket back, and Ohno peered down at her with a sympathetic look. He always felt awful when his girlfriend was in any kind of pain, and he wasn’t able to help her. 

“I prepared a warm water bottle for you,” he said and caressed her hair. He kissed her temple while handing over the water bottle and stood up when with a groan Kazuko buried her head again in the cushions. “Try to get some sleep. I will head out to the pharmacy to get some painkillers. You really should have kept an eye on how many you had left,” he scolded, and Kazuko groaned. 

“Not helping,” she mumbled even if she knew he was right and she was thankful to be no alone and having to force herself outside to get some medication herself. But right now she was mostly feeling sorry for herself. 

“After that, I will go grocery shopping. So try to think of something that you’d like to eat or if you want any sweets,” Ohno added bringing a smile to her lips with those words. 

“Thank you,” she whispered and hugged the water bottle tighter to herself. She sighed softly when the cramps subsided at least a bit for that moment. Ohno kissed her head again and then left to get the promised painkillers. Kazuko fell into a slight slumber as the door fell closed. She felt slightly ill, but she knew that it would soon be better. The painkillers would help, and in the afternoon she would feel better. And for as long as Ohno was out she would concentrate on breathing in and out without throwing up, hopefully.

The door opened not even half an hour later and she opened her eyes when she heard Ohno rummaging in their kitchen. It didn’t take long until Ohno appeared in the bedroom and Kazuko forced herself to sit up. “Thank you,” she mumbled with red cheeks because of the loving look Ohno had on his face. Kazuko took the glass of water and the painkiller. She drank one of the tablets with a big gulp of water and closed her eyes for a moment. A few deep breaths later her protesting stomach settled down, and she looked up just to realise that the soft gaze still was on Ohno’s face. It was almost creepy.

“Do you want anything?” Ohno asked, and Kazuko shrugged still thinking about it. 

“Fruits and chocolate,” she decided then though, and Ohno nodded. He pressed a kiss to her lips and watched her thoughtfully. 

“And something light on your stomach for lunch,” he decided, and she grinned thankfully. “Okay. I’m off I will take my phone with me so if you think of anything you want, give me a call.”

“Will do. Until later.” Kazuko fell back onto the bed when the door closed again and closed her eyes. She fell into another slumber shortly after hoping that the medicines would kick in before she woke up again. She looked forward to feeling better and cuddling with her boyfriend. 

Ohno woke her up two hours later and forced her to drink a cup of warm tea and a bowl of chicken soup. Kazuko blinked a bit disorientated but leant against Ohno as she sipped her warm beverage and slowly got back her bearings. She hated sleeping during the day; it always made her light-headed and feeling strange. 

“How are you feeling?” Ohno asked, and she hummed a bit in thought. 

“Better. Thanks to the pills and the extra sleep,” she answered then and smiled when Ohno caressed the long strands of her hair untangling them carefully. She desperately needed a shower before the day could really start, she decided. 

“You think we can go out? I bought us fruits and cakes, the weather is sunny but not too warm,” Ohno asked. She rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement. 

“Okay. I need to shower first though. And not for too long,” Kazuko mumbled with a frown when she remembered her need for bathrooms close-by for the next few days. 

“Of course just an hour or two max. You are way to pale for spring so it would do you some good.” Kazuko rolled her eyes good-naturally at those words because today she looked like that mostly because of how bad she felt, but she wouldn’t disagree. Ohno had already done so much for her today that going out together would be totally fine and sounded actually fun. 

“Then let me take that shower, and we can go.”

“Yay,” Ohno laughed in childish glee, and Kazuko kissed Ohno’s forehead before jumping up and running to the bathroom. She took a fast shower and dried her hair before deciding on comfy leggings and a knee-length yellow dress with small swallows on it to wear. Finished with everything she went to the kitchen to help Ohno with the last bits of packing the things for their picnic. 

“Ready to go?” Kazuko asked amusedly when everything was packed and ready. 

“Yup.” Ohno shouldered the backpack and followed Kazuko outside to the nearby park where they often went to when they wanted to have a date out. It was like their special place and because it was a bit secluded and slightly in a boring part of the park it was often left empty. So also today. It seemed to just wait patiently for them to put down their blanket and sitting down. 

Kazuko rummaged through the backpack until she found the book she had packed and gave it to Ohno. Settling down on Ohno’s lap, Kazuko looked up with a smile. 

“Read?” she asked and with a chuckle, Ohno found the page where they had stopped last time and began to read.


	4. Chapter 4

Kazuko’s eyes wandered over to the clock, and she groaned. It was already eleven pm and still no message from Ohno. Her boyfriend was still out of town - since a week already now - and she was missing him deeply. With a sigh, she pulled her legs closer to herself to put her chin on the knees as she continued her game. Ohno had told her that he would come home tonight or early the next morning and therefore she wanted to wait for him until he would finally arrive home. Perhaps Ohno needed a drive home from the train station, so she wanted to be there for him. Even if she knew that it was more likely that Ohno would call a cab instead. 

She stared at the loading screen in front of her without really seeing it. It was silly how much she missed Ohno whenever they weren’t together. Kazuko couldn’t even remember the time when she hadn’t been with Ohno. For their parents, they were a dream couple in a way. They were sweethearts since middle schools. Ohno was Kazuko’s first real love, and he stayed the only one for her. There were crushes before Ohno, but nothing like she felt for the man. 

“Damn,” she mumbled when she realised that the loading screen was still running and rubbed her face. She got up to restart the game console and went to the kitchen to make herself some tea before getting back to the sofa. With a little wriggling, she found the perfect position once again and pulled a warm blanket over herself. She smiled as her fingers traced the design. Her grandmother had crocheted it for her. It was her favourite that reminded her of the older woman even now after she was long dead. It was always as if she felt the warm embraces and love of her grandmother whenever she used it. 

Her phone beeped, and she took it as she took a sip of her warm tea. The gaming console came back to life, and she was glad that everything seemed to go as it should finally. 

>Finally on my way back. The trains were running late :(( Don’t stay up! Love you<

Kazuko frowned a bit at the message. Her eyes wandered over to the clock again. Six more hours at least until the train would even arrive here. Then the transfer from the train station… 

>Can’t sleep if you are not next to me. The bed is so cold.<

>Awwww… Too bad. I wished I could take you in my arms right now and sing you to sleep. But it’s not possible.<

>Well, you could call me?< Kazuko giggled a little at her unreasonable demand. Ohno couldn’t call her. Even she knew that, but she could ask.

She wanted to start her game when her phone began to ring. With a confused frown, she answered the call. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Kazu,” Ohno’s voice was sweet even with the bad connection of their call. She put the game on silence and hugged a pillow close to her just so that she could hug something. 

“Everything okay?”

“Yup, just missed your voice. And the train ride is boring without you.”

“You silly man. If the call disconnects I will hate you forever,” she threatened, but Ohno just laughed softly. He already knew that it was just empty threats. At times like these, she hated that they knew each other already since years. 

“I thought you wanted me to sing you to sleep?” Ohno teased, and she tried not to blush. Even if it was just her here at home. 

“I want you to hug me to sleep,” she denied softly and drank from her tea again. 

“Mhm… Tomorrow then. How was your day?”

“It was fine. The kids were nice. They for once did as I told them.”

“Sounds good. And tomorrow?”

“My professor is ill, so my classes are cancelled for tomorrow. But I need to prepare for school next week.”

“Then let’s head out for breakfast tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t you want to sleep in?” Kazuko asked surprised and smiled because he could imagine the shrug of the other right now. The small movement of the shoulders that was so typical of her boyfriend. 

“Mhm… Then brunch? There has opened a new café in the next street. You talked about it a few weeks prior? Or am I wrong?”

Kazuko laughed softly. It was so typical for Ohno to remember such small mentions like that. She loved to try out the new restaurants and cafés around their home. Ohno mostly didn’t care about that. 

“Sounds good. It shouldn’t be so full on Friday so no need for a reservation,” she said deep in thought and Ohno hummed softly. 

“Then it’s a date. For now though, my love, you should get ready for bed. It’s late, and you had a hard day,” Satoshi scolded, and she laughed softly.

“Not as hard as yours probably.”

“Maybe. I probably will nap as well so that I can take you out tomorrow.”

“Call me when you arrive at the station?”

“No. Sleep and make sure there are no keys at the door. I will wake you personally or climb into bed next to you. Whatever will suit me better,” Ohno decided to make Kazuko laugh again. 

“Okay. Good night then. Love you,” she whispered and closed her eyes when Ohno replied back as well.


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey what’s wrong?” Ohno asked a very pale Kazuko and put a hand on her forehead. She moved her head to the side to shook off Ohno’s hand and glared at him. 

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” she asked with a frown and Ohno shrugged. He sat down beside her and hugged her tightly.

“I still have some time. And I could call in sick if you don’t feel good. They will be alright at the theatre without me. I’m not the only one who makes the set designs after all.”

“But the best,” Kazuko giggled and winced. She rubbed her right side and leant against him. Ohno chuckled and played with her hair for a bit. 

“You are biased,” he chided softly and kissed her forehead. “But you really don’t look good. What’s wrong?” Ohno asked, and she rubbed her side. 

“It hurts,” she whined finally, and he looked at her very worried. He moved to the side so that he could look her over. 

“Where?” he asked seriously and with a deep frown. Kazuko would have laughed at his face if the pain wasn’t that bad right now. She felt like keeling over and rib her side out. If only she could, she thought wryly. 

She pressed her hand at the right side just above her hip and bit her lip as a new wave of pain run over her. “My right side hurts a lot,” she groaned and bit her lower lip hard to fight back a cry. “But I’m sure it will be alright. I just need to take my painkillers, and then I’m fine.”

Kazuko whined when Ohno pinched her nose and stood up. “You lie down right now, I will call in sick and then we will go to the hospital. You can’t even sit straight up, and I know you. You have a high pain tolerance,” he mumbled and dialled the number of the theatre to tell them that he couldn’t come in today. 

Kazuko wanted to object, but the only thing that came over his lips was a tiny groan. He pressed a kiss to the side of her mouth and caressed her cheek. He was worried about her. It was very seldom that she was so vulnerable. It didn’t take long for him to cancel work and call a cab to get them both to the hospital.

—

Ohno sighed as he put the last of Kazuko’s clothes into the part of the cupboard that belonged to her bed and folded the bag to put it into it as well and closed it. Then he sat down on the chair beside the bed and held her hand to drop a soft kiss on the back of her hands. 

“Big sap,” she chided and giggled when he put the hand on her mouth to silence her. 

“Only you can have acute appendicitis and say it’s nothing bad,” he scolded, and she looked a bit sheepishly at the other. 

“It was almost like an awful period,” she mumbled and let herself fall back on the cushions. She was glad for the painkillers she already got, but they also made her a bit drowsy. 

“Idiot. At least they will operate you today. So you need to stay awake, okay?” he asked, and she groaned. 

“You could wake me up when they want to talk to me,” she mumbled making him laugh softly. 

“You are horrible to wake. So sit up a bit.” Kazuko sighed and closed her eyes, but then she sat up and tried to stay awake while talking with Ohno about anything that came to her mind. When she was called by the nurses for an examination and then read through all the paperwork to sign it, she was glad when she finally was allowed to lay back. The pain was back, and she wanted nothing more than to fall asleep again. 

Soon after she got a pill to take to prepare for the operation and took it silently. She watched Ohno who looked worriedly at her the whole time it took for her until she fell asleep. 

—

When she woke up again, her stomach still hurt, and she groaned when she tried to sit up. Ohno’s hands were by her side almost immediately, and he helped her in a sitting position. He still looked worried she realised and a frown found the way on her face. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked and she shrugged. 

“Still hurts,” she mumbled, and Ohno smiled a bit before pressing a button on her bedside. 

“The nurse asked me to call her the moment you wake up,” he explained and stood as the nurse came and asked him to leave. The woman helped Kazuko to her feet checking on her and helped her to the bathroom and to change into her clothes again before she was brought back to bed. 

“The doctor will come in a minute. After that your boyfriend can come back,” she explained, and Kazuko nodded. She was a bit confused when she realised she was in another room. What had happened?

When the doctor came she only half listened to her explanation that her appendicitis was wholly healthy but instead they found cyst close to her ovary which they didn’t remove because the doctors weren’t sure they would manage it without taking the ovary as well. Then she finally got some new painkillers, and a new infusion and Ohno was back. 

“Hey,” she smiled when he sat beside her and stroke his cheek. “Don’t look so worried. Everything is fine. As far as I understood they will operate on me again after a few more examinations. So it’s okay.”

“I hate seeing you in a hospital bed and in pain,” he mumbled and frowned. “Also, knowing you have to go to have another operation where I can’t protect you is horrible,” he mumbled, and she chuckled. 

“The doctors will know what they can do,” she whispered and tugged at his neck to kiss him. “So stop looking so worried.”

“I’ll always worry about you,” Ohno pouted when Kazuko laughed softly. 

“I know.”


	6. Chapter 6

Kazuko was bored as she sat on her hospital bed and tried to level up on a game. She was glad that Ohno brought her handheld games and a book the second day she was here. Originally Ohno also wanted to take time off from work to stay by her side, but that was silly. Ohno should save his holiday for a time when she was able to actually be home with him. Here she could stay alone, play her games, read a book or talk with the two women in her room and go from one examination to the next. 

With a sigh, she leant back and closed her eyes against an upcoming headache her hand automatically patted the small stuffed penguin Ohno had also brought with him so that she wasn't alone when he was gone. She wanted to leave the room for a bit to take in fresh air but Ohno should arrive soon, and the last time she went out shortly before his visit he freaked out because he couldn’t find her and the nurses couldn’t tell him where she was. That silly boyfriend of hers was way too worried for her, Kazuko thought with a fond smile. 

“Someone is in love,” she heard the voice of the old lady that resided on her left and opened her eyes again to look at her. 

“Huh?” She was apparently confused, and the other laughed softly. 

“You have a certain look on your face whenever you think of that chubby boyfriend of yours. It’s not often that people have that look on their faces.”

“Oh… Ah well, Satoshi and I are together since our teens,” she explained with a small laugh. “And he is an idiot but an adorable one that I never want to lose,” she explained after a moment and stretched. It was strange to explain, but Ohno was just perfect for her that she was confident of. The old woman laughed and nodded. 

“That I could already see. It’s nice to see people in love,” she said, and Kazuko hummed uncertain at how to answer that. A knock was heard and shortly after the door opened and Kazuko grinned when she saw Ohno peeking in. 

“Hello,” she greeted and waved him in before getting up. Ohno shuffled over and greeted the other woman in the room, who just nodded her head in answer and laid back, apparently ready to take an afternoon nap before dinner. 

Kazuko pecked Ohno’s soft lips and looked for a cardigan to put over her shirt. “Let’s go outside? I’m sick of seeing these greenish walls,” she whined which made Ohno laugh and take her hand in his to interlace their fingers. 

“How about an ice-cream date in the garden?” Ohno asked with bright eyes, and she shrugged. 

“As long as you pay,” she answered giggling at the frown that appeared on his forehead. 

“You always make me pay.”

“Of course, you are the man,” she said, and they continued to bicker a bit as Ohno led her outside to the small cafeteria to get them both an ice-cream and then to a bench in the warm sun. 

“It’s so strange to see you going outside on your free will,” Ohno teased, and Kazuko rolled her eyes while licking on the ice-cream. 

“Hospitals are boring, and they smell strange. I don’t know I feel ill when I’m inside.”

“You are here because you are ill,” Ohno mumbled unhappily at the reminder, and she rolled her eyes.

“I have a cyst -”

“-Two.”

“Two but one of them doesn’t matter. Now they need to check that everything is alright and they’ll operate on me. The surgery will help, and then I’m allowed to be home shortly after.”

“I already told my boss that I need to take days off for a few days after you are released.” Kazuko sighed and pinched Ohno in the side as she saw the stubborn look. Ohno would never back down now that he had decided to take care of her the moment that she was allowed to go home. 

“Then everything will be alright, and you don’t need to worry,” Kazuko mumbled and leant against Ohno. She closed her eyes a bit and smiled when Ohno put an arm around her shoulders. It felt good to be close to him. 

“But there is something on your mind,” Ohno observed, and she winced a little bit. Of course, Ohno would realise that she was worried over everything after all. 

“A bit. I can’t believe I have endometriosis my whole life without realising it,” Kazuko grumbled, and Ohno put a soft kiss to her hair. 

“Now you know, though.”

“Yes… Ne Oh-chan?” she asked and looked up. Ohno looked back with loving eyes, and she had to smile at that. “Will you be mad if they have to take an ovary and if I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant ever?” she asked. 

“Idiot,” Ohno scolded with a deep frown and hit her on the head softly. “Of course not. They told you that they will try their best to not remove it.”

“True. Also, the chances of me getting pregnant might even be higher after removing the cyst,” she said deep in thought. Ohno sighed and closed his eyes. To be exact, Ohno didn’t really care if it helped or made it more difficult. The thing that mattered to him was that Kazuko wouldn’t be in pain anymore. Also, that thing didn’t belong in his girlfriend, so he wanted it to be gone and tested to make sure that everything else was really okay. 

He also knew that Kazuko’s mind was so much on her not being able to receive children that she never thought about the cyst being maligned - for which he was happy. One thing less Kazuko worried about right now. 

“I never knew that you were all set up to get pregnant,” Ohno teased to bring Kazuko out of her dark mood, and she grumbled. 

“Not right now, idiot. But of course, in the future. After I finish university and I’m married,” Kazuko’s vice traced off, and Ohno’s looked at her amused. 

“Marriage? Did someone propose to you?” Ohno knew that Kazuko didn’t think about marriage yet either. But it was kind of amusing what kind of thoughts came into her head right now that she was in the hospital. Kazuko scoffed and shoved him a bit to the side. 

“Nobody that mattered,” she asked, and he laughed before kissing her in apology. 

“Sorry, sorry… No more teasing,” he promised, and she glanced at him.

“If you propose now, I will say no and hit you,” she warned, and Ohno grinned before nodding. He already promised himself to make any proposal unique and special. Kazuko deserved no less. 

“The evening round will start soon, and your dinner should be served as well. Let’s head back,” Ohno said, and Kazuko sighed. Why did the time fly when Ohno was around but crawled when she was alone?


	7. Chapter 7

Ohno was feeling giddy when he woke up that morning. Finally, he could bring Kazuko home. These last two weeks had been horrible for him. He was always worried about his girlfriend, and he missed her so much in the evenings and at nights. So he got ready as fast as he could and drove to the hospital. He greeted the nurses on the ward when he made his way to the room where Kazuko was staying in. 

“Good morning, love,” he said when he was beside the bed looking down at his grumpy girlfriend. 

“Why are you so happy so early in the morning?” she asked with a groan as she sat up. Ohno smiled softly kissing her cheek as he helped her to sit up completely. Kazuko flinched a bit at the movement, but the look of pain was soon gone again. 

“Because I won’t be leaving alone today,” Ohno explained with a bright grin and tried not to pull Kazuko in a tight hug. He didn’t want to hurt her. And even if the surgeries went all very well, she was still sore because of the last one and had to be careful as to not pull the stitches. 

“Is that so? Did you finally manage to flirt with the nurses so that they will accompany you?” Kazuko asked cheekily. Ohno blinked in confusion at those words and his face fell a bit when he deciphered them. 

“Does that mean you are not discharged?” Kazuko giggled at his sad face and pulled him down carefully to plant a soft kiss on his lips. 

“I’m just teasing you. I’m allowed to leave. I will have the last examination, and then I’ll get the discharge papers,” she answered. Ohno smiled at her with bright, happy eyes. Kazuko laughed softly and stroke his cheek. Ohno was adorable right now, she thought. 

“That’s good,” he said relieved and moved forward to kiss Kazuko again as there was a knock at the door. He stepped back and helped Kazuko up when he realised it was the nurse asking for her. 

“The doctor is ready,” she said with a soft smile, and Kazuko nodded as she put on a cardigan and slipped in a pair of shoes.

“I will pack your things while you are gone,” Ohno almost sang. Kazuko giggled and rolled her eyes at the nurse who was trying her best to hide her amusement. 

“It seems as if someone is overly happy,” the woman remarked laughing softly at Kazuko’s blush. 

“He is absolutely ridiculous,” she mumbled and rubbed her face in faked annoyance.

“I think he is charming. He was worried a lot it seems.”

Kazuko shrugged at those words, but she felt terrible because of it all. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “I guess he was. He always thinks the worst,” she explained with a headshake. “He had cried when the doctors explained that the cyst was not one of the bad kind.” Kazuko sighed softly as she remembered how relieved the other had been. 

“Cute,” the nurse decided, and she giggled a little. Yeah, Satoshi was always cute, always had been. 

“Yep, he was like that right from the beginning. Horrible really. How can someone resist him and not fall in love with him? I should be worried about any rivals,” she mused making the woman laugh again. 

“Are you?”

“Nope. He never looks at any other woman,” Kazuko explained. She didn’t have to be jealous of any person if it came to Ohno. She knew that Ohno never was interested in any other person the same way as he was in her.

“Lucky~,” the woman said in awe making Kazuko giggle. She knew how lucky she was. She nodded at the woman as she entered the examination room for her last examination.

—

“Ready?” Ohno asked when she came out of the bathroom. She nodded and put on the light coat that Ohno held out for her. 

“Yup, we can go,” she decided to lean against Ohno when he picked up her bag and put an arm around her waist. He pressed a small kiss against her temple. 

“I’m not letting you go for the rest of the day!” he declared. 

“There are some things that I’d like to do without you, though,” she reminded him, and he rolled his eyes. 

“Of course.”

Ohno helped her in the taxi and told the driver where to go. Then he leant back and took Kazuko’s hand in his own. He played with the small stubby fingers and smiled. Her hands were so cute. “What did the doctor tell you?” he asked and she looked up. 

“I will tell you once we are home. Stop looking so worried. It’s nothing bad. I promise.”

“The last time you said that was right before I called a taxi to bring you to the hospital. So allow me some slack,” Ohno deadpanned, and Kazuko rolled her eyes. 

“Yes, I did because I apparently thought so. Now I say it because I have information from the doctors that all say I’m fine.

Ohno looked as if he wanted to disagree but luckily he breathed in profoundly leaning back with a nod. He would try his best to trust Kazuko and keep calm even if it was hard.

At home, Kazuko sat down on the sofa and let Ohno take care of her until he was satisfied that she had everything she might desire and were able to sit down beside her. She cuddled up close to him and took his hand in her own to tug at one finger after the other. 

“The doctors said I was fine. I got a description for a pill that I have to take daily for at least a year so that my body can heal. They also said that if I’m thinking of babies now is the best time to try,” she explained carefully and stared at his fingers. She didn’t want to look into Ohno’s face. 

She was glad that everything was alright now. She was just so confused right now. Of course, she wanted children in the future. But she had always imagined that she would wait until she finished university and had been in her job for around a year. It was safer that way, but now she was overly confused. Of course, the doctors had said that she didn’t have to get pregnant now. They didn’t say that there wasn’t a chance later on. But they implied that it was their best option right now. 

Ohno hummed a little bit in understanding and pulled her hand closer to place a kiss on the inside of her hand. Smiling at the goosebumps on her arm following it. 

“I see. And what do you think?”

“I don’t know,” she said sincerely and finally looked up to look into his eyes. Ohno’s eyes were soft and loving it made her tingle all over. 

“Then… How about we wait a bit? At least those eight weeks until you can do anything again. You can think of it and decide what you want. All decisions are okay and if you want to talk I’m here ne?” he said and stroke her cheek. “I will always be here right beside you to support you,” he promised and bent down to kiss her warm lips.


	8. Chapter 8

Kazuko rubbed her side a little bit. She still sometimes felt a few pangs there. It was silly, she knew. After all, she was all healed up. Her doctor checked up on her so often now and told her that she was all fine and was allowed to do anything she wanted. Still, sometimes it was as if she could still feel the soreness and pain. With a sigh, she shook her head and leant back tiredly. Her eyes wandered over the papers in front of her, and a frown appeared on her face. 

She felt bad. She had for a while now. The pills she had to take were doing strange things to her hormones already, but it still wasn’t severe. Deep inside she also knew that it wasn’t because of the pills. She was unhappy because of her studies. She missed too many classes to finish in time like she planned and even if Ohno told her again and again that it was okay it irked her to put on more terms than she needed to. Just because of a silly surgery. It was stupid.

“I’m back,” Ohno called, and Kazuko looked up from her place at the desk.

“Welcome home. You are early,” Kazuko realised with a smile as he stepped in. Ohno looked tired but accomplished. That told her that today went well and Ohno managed to put the finishing touches on the stage designs.

“Yes. We finished earlier than I thought. And I told the others that I won’t join in for drinks. We can go up though if you want?” Ohno offered, and for a moment Kazuko was close to saying yes. She knew that Ohno liked to go out with his colleagues and only said no because he wanted to spend time with her as well. She usually didn’t have a problem with accompanying them but not today.

“Would it be okay to stay in?” she asked in a small voice. The tone in her voice was enough to make the smile on Ohno’s face disappear and a frown to replace it. He stepped closer hugging her one-handedly from beside and putting his head on her hair. He kissed the crown on her head and looked at the papers in front of her. 

“What were you doing?” he asked, and she shrugged carefully.

“Trying to plan for next term at university. I need to do more to be able to finish on time. I was supposed to finish my thesis and then finish it, but now I need to do the double of those classes and…” Kazuko stopped speaking when she realised that she was shaking. Ohno loosened his hug to turn her around and to pick her up with a bit of difficulty. He ended up dragging her to the sofa where they fell into a heap. He carefully caressed her back as she hid her face on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I don’t know what got into me,” she whispered, still hiding her face. 

“I do. You are forcing yourself too much. Normally people would just add a term if they had to take off for more than a month because being in pain,” he scolded and then sighed when she flinched. He carefully forced her to look at him and kissed her cheek, forehead, cute button nose and the cute mole on her chin last to produce a small smile on her face. “Listen, I know you want to help with our finances and finally earn some real money. But you can’t help that you fell ill and had to have surgery and then to have to stay home for longer than planned because it was too much on your body. I would be way more happy if you would take it easy and just stayed home for the next weeks so that you are okay again. Go out, meet friends, write or read books in coffee shops but please don’t stay here and try to put as much as possible in your schedule,” Ohno asked and played with some strands of her hair that escaped the braid.

“You don’t understand… If I don’t finish until summer I have to wait for next summer to get a job,” Kazuko said weakly. Deep inside she knew he was right. Stressing herself so much over it wouldn’t help. It probably would kill her inside.

“Then you can stretch it out on the next three terms,” Ohno said and shrugged when she wanted to disagree. “It would be stupid to work somewhere half-time for a few months until you can get a job in a school. Use that time to relax and enjoy the last year at university more. You always moaned that you couldn’t take any extracurricular classes that interested you because your schedule was so full with your obligatory classes. Choose them, visit them and learn whatever you want.”

Kazuko looked at him for a moment but finally, finally, relaxed in his hold. She sank down on him and closed her eyes. “Okay. If that is really fine with you?”

“Yes, I don’t mind to be the only one who earns money, and you can try to get back to your part-time job if you want,” he said softly. He really didn’t mind. They didn’t have big wishes, and both of them didn’t mind to save up for bigger things they wanted.

Kazuko cuddled up to Ohno and closed her eyes for a moment. She breathed in his calming sense and had to smile at that. She really should have talked to the other earlier. Ohno always managed to make sense of all of her thoughts and worries.

“You still want to go out?”

“No, I think I want to stay in with you and order junk food. Then we should put in a bad movie you love to criticise and watch it while making fun of the terrible dialogues,” Ohno said in a thoughtful voice and kissed her on the lips. “And we should still have a few beers in the fridge?” he asked, and she nodded. 

“Sounds perfect.” 

“Thought so. So let me get up, and I will order the food. Any special things you want?”

“Garlic bread. But I don’t really care,” Kazuko answered and went to the kitchen to get them any drinks and snacks they might want. Afterwards, she put a kiss on Ohno’s cheek which was still busy making their order and took some leggings and a thick long jumper to put it on in the bathroom. She opened her braid and then put her hair all up in a messy bun to join Ohno on the sofa which had already pulled out their couch with many cushions and blankets to make it more comfortable. 

Kazuko grinned when she saw Ohno in soft clothes sitting in the middle with his arms wide open. She let herself fall onto the made bed and closed her eyes for a moment. This felt really good, she thought.

“I love you,” she hummed happily and nuzzled her face inside the soft t-shirt.

“Me too sweetheart,” he answered. Kazuko giggled and shook her head. She really didn’t know when they change from saying those pet words just to make fun of them to saying them and really meaning them. But it was all excellent and perfect in the end.


	9. Chapter 9

Kazuko groaned when the doorbell rang. She had just started a new game and settled down. With a grumble, she stopped the game and stood up to open the door. She blinked when her best friend stood in front of her. 

“Aiba-shi? What are you doing here?”

“I was bored, and we didn’t see each other for ages,” the other said and shrugged. “What are you doing?”

Kazuko stepped aside to let him in and went to their kitchen. “I was trying to relax and play a game before you came. Coffee or tea?” she asked and took out two cups while waiting for an answer. 

“Tea, please.” Kazuko hummed in understanding and began to prepare their tea while Aiba got comfortable on their sofa. When she came back, he opened his arms to her, and she grinned before letting herself fall into his open arms. 

“I haven’t seen you in ages, how are you?”

“Good, better than last time we saw each other,” she mumbled with a shudder as the last time she had met Aiba had been in hospital shortly after her first surgery. 

“That’s good. I was worried you know?”

Kazuko laughed and pulled her legs up onto the sofa and laid her head on his shoulder. 

“I know. Not as much as Oh-chan though.”

“Nobody will ever beat Ohno,” Aiba said with a roll of his eyes and ruffled her hair. Kazuko yelled out and hit his hands. 

“If my hair is full of tangles I will kill you,” she threatened, but Aiba only laughed. Kazuko rolled her eyes and took the tea to take a sip from it. Afterwards, she angled to get her game controller and start the game cuddled up close to Aiba. 

“How are you?” she asked. Aiba was right. They hadn’t been able to meet for weeks now. Part of it was because she didn’t want to see anybody the last few days and part was because Aiba had been out of the country for a while. 

“Good. It was fun. You should go to England for your next holiday. You will have fun there, and Ohno will get lots of inspiration,” Aiba said enthusiastically. Kazuko chuckled but said nothing. Aiba wrote for a travel magazine and got around a lot because of that. It was always great to listen to his stories about the different cities he visited. But Kazuko also knew that they didn’t have the money to go there so it was the best she could get. 

She listened to Aiba’s talk about England and the different cities he visited while playing her game. She had moved down to put her head on his lap, and he was massaging her neck. Kazuko felt herself relaxing and managing to clear the stages she were stuck on earlier. 

“How is Ohno fearing?” Aiba asked as he worked for his hands through her hair and over her scalp to relax her fully and make sure that there really were no knots in her hair. 

“He works a lot at the moment. But I think he is okay,” Kazuko mumbled with a frown on her face and sighed. “I worry about him.” Aiba smiled and leant back to allow Kazuko to sit up. Kazuko stopped her game and stretched out her back. 

“You know how he is. If there is a new play, he has to work a lot to finish the stage designs and everything, so he gets busy. He will be better in a bit.” 

“I know, but normally he doesn’t worry about me as well,” she said with a pout. Aiba flicked her nose before tugging her up. 

“Not exactly true. Ohno is a worrier. But if you want to do something for him, we should cook dinner. Get up and get ready for going out and we will go grocery shopping.” Kazuko grumbled but nodded. It was a good idea after all. She usually would wait for Ohno so that they could go together since she couldn’t carry so much heavy stuff. But if Aiba went with her, it would mean that they had everything ready before Ohno came home. She emptied her cup of cold tea and left to the bedroom to change out of her lounging clothes. 

When she came back, Aiba had already cleaned up the living room and checked their cupboards to write down what they needed. 

“What do you want to make for dinner?”

“Let’s make curry. Oh-chan loves it, and we can eat it tomorrow as well.”

“Okay. Let’s better hurry then.”

—

Kazuko found herself standing beside Aiba peeling potatoes soon after they came back home from their shopping. Aiba helped her with cutting everything and put it in the oven shortly after. They fell down on the sofa again, and Kazuko found herself back into Aiba’s arms. Aiba giggled Kazuko was just as cuddly as he remembered her. 

“May I ask you something?”

“You may ask me anything, Kaz’. You never had to ask before,” Aiba said softly.

“The pills are messing with my head. Sorry. Satoshi is slowly getting fed up with me, but he tries to reign it in,” she groaned, and Aiba pinched her nose again. 

“It’s okay. And as far as I know, it’s not only your pills but your tendency to look pessimistically into the future,” Aiba scolded softly. “You never believe that you can be just happy. Ohno had mellowed you out, but it’s all coming back now.”

“You could be right,” she mumbled, and he nodded. 

“Of course, I am. So you need to stop it. Ohno will never leave you. He loves you, and he is totally head over heels for you. He doesn’t even look at others.”

Kazuko giggled a bit and nodded when she thought about Ohno. “I totally won him over,” she grinned. Aiba laughed and tickled her side making her giggle even more as he found her sensitive spot quite quickly. 

“Yup, he is totally crazy for you. I don’t know how you did it, but you shouldn’t doubt him.”

“I don’t,” she denied hotly, and he lifted his eyebrow. 

“So why are you so down all the time then?”

“Because I’m stupid?” she asked sheepishly. Aiba smiled and nodded. 

“Exactly,” he said almost proudly and hugged her close. She giggled softly against him, and he held her close for a moment. The door opened, and Kazuko looked up happily when she heard Ohno coming in. 

“Welcome home!” she said loudly, and Aiba hit her softly because she was so close to his ear. Ohno walked into the living room and lifted an eyebrow lazily when he saw his girlfriend hugged tightly by her best friend. 

“Really? Cheating in my own house?” he asked when she untangled from Aiba to press a kiss against his lips, welcoming the warm hug of her boyfriend. 

“Never,” she mumbled. Ohno chuckled at her respond and waved at Aiba who grinned while waving back.

“What were you two up to?”

“Playing games, talking, grocery shopping, cooking and more talking,” Aiba said.

“He called me an idiot.”

“Did he now?”

“Not true. You realised your stupidity yourself,” Aiba disagreed and Kazuko stuck out her tongue in response. Ohno grinned and sat down on the armchair with Kazuko on his lap. 

“Well, it looks like you had fun. Will you stay for dinner?” Ohno asked. 

“If I’m allowed, I’d like to.”

“Of course. I want you to tell me about your latest trip,” Ohno said and kissed Kazuko’s neck making her shudder since she was very sensitive there. 

“Dinner should be ready soon,” she whispered, hitting Ohno when instead of stopping he nibbled on his neck and licked her collarbone. “Stop it you perv!”

Ohno giggled but kissed her cheek softly before just hugging her close and listening to Aiba’s stories. He let his girlfriend go when she wriggled around and watched her go to the kitchen to prepare the table for them to eat. After all, she already knew everything from earlier. 

Kazuko peeked at Ohno and smiled at the warm feeling inside her belly. She was so in love with Ohno and Aiba was right. She would lose this if she continued to be so stupid as now. “Dinner is ready!” she called and smiled when both men came in to sit and eat.

“I’ll call you,” Kazuko promised when Aiba finally left grinning when Ohno dug his chin into her shoulder. She felt his hands slowly inching under her top to caress her skin. Aiba just waved, and she closed the door behind him. Kazuko laughed out loud when shortly after Ohno picked her up kissing her deeply. 

“I love you,” Ohno whispered against her lips in a husky voice. Goosebumps broke out over her skin as she crossed her arms around his neck to close the small distance between their faces to kiss him again. Kazuko licked his lips until he allowed her entrance and to deepen the kiss. Ohno’s hand wandered under her skirt to grace her butt, and she let out a small moan. Ohno grinned at how responsive she was to his touches and let her fall onto the bed once they were in the bedroom. 

His eyes ran over the form of Kazuko as she laid in the bed before he couldn’t hold back any longer and crawled closer to her. “So much,” he continued his earlier words, and she tugged him closer to kiss him again. 

“I love you too.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Very bad smut coming up. You really don't need to read it if you don't want to.

Ohno held himself up with an arm to be able to look down onto Kazuko lying on the bed. He loved her so much. It was hard to hold back sometimes. Often he wanted nothing more than to hold the woman close to him, kiss her, hug her and just be with her. But he knew that it wasn’t possible. There was work for one, and even in their free time, it might look strange if his beautiful girlfriend had a man latched onto her all the time. A chuckle escaped him at that image, and he ducked down to press a warm kiss just below her eyes when she looked up in confusion. His hands wandered carefully under her shirt to caress her soft skin with just the tips of his fingers. A loving smile appeared on his face when a shiver broke out over her arms.

Kazuko looked up at the other with a grin before she stretched out under him. Her hands found their way to Ohno’s back to tug him closer again and a happy sigh left her when the moist lips of the man met with hers again. She loved kissing Ohno so much, and she loved having his big warm hands on her. 

Ohno understood the silent command with ease, and he was all too ready to comply. He moved around a bit to be able to lie on his side beside Kazuko without having to fear of crushing his girlfriend's small frame. Kazuko smoothly moved on her side too, so that they would be able to keep kissing comfortably. Ohno ran both of his hands under the shirt Kazuko wore and carefully pulled it up to strip her out of it. They had to break their kiss for that, but soon enough the fabric was gone, and Ohno let his eyes wander over the creamy skin of his girlfriend.

He carefully caressed her stomach, his fingers staying for a moment at the faint marks of her surgeries - now months ago - before she could hide. He caught her hands and kissed each of the fingertips lovingly. “You are beautiful,” he told her, and she blushed for a moment.

“My stomach is pudgy,” she grumbled. Ohno grinned and ducked down to press his lips against the small flaws on her stomach. His tongue lapped over them as he closed his eyes. Kazuko was beautiful, and she knew Ohno thought so. Therefore he wouldn’t answer to her words. Ohno knew Kazuko felt very comfortable in her own body and didn’t feel ashamed because of it. It was just those little insecurities she felt from time to time if he looked at her for too long. (And by too long Ohno meant for longer than a minute.)

Ohno’s tongue moved over the smooth skin, surprised at how different the scars felt. They were even silkier there than the rest of her skin. “You are really beautiful,” he repeated in an almost whisper, and his eyes flicked up to observe the reaction on her face. He hid a smirk as her cheeks went a deep red and she hid half of her face behind her hands. His mouth wandered over her belly, and his tongue slipped into her belly button for a second. A soft sigh escaped Kazuko as he wandered higher up to press kisses over her skin until he reached her bra. 

“And I’m so lucky you decided to be with me,” he added as he moved up completely look at her face while his hand wandered around her body to open her bra. “The luckiest man on earth,” he continued as she chanced a look at him and closed his mouth over her lips again. He nibbled on her lower lip as he opened the bra with his fingers. His other hand teased the warm skin around her belly button and her sides. A soft moan left Kazuko’s lips, and Ohno used that opportunity to push inside and tease her tongue with his and play with her. 

Fingertips wandered over Kazuko’s back to her shoulders and soon after Ohno pushed down her bra straps, pulling the piece of clothing off shortly after. The calloused fingers found her nipples easily, and she was teased by them. Another moan escaped her lips that was caught by Ohno’s mouth before they could be heard. She felt Ohno’s lips forming a smirk as he left her lips to wander to the mole on her chin. Ohno nibbled at that spot before teasing it with his tongue. Then the lips and tongue roamed over her face and neck. Kazuko felt a shiver running over her body when teeth nipped on the hollow on her neck, and hot breath was blowing over the sensitive skin. She whispered Ohno’s name who looked at her for a moment with a soft smile.

Ohno’s hands wandered over Kazuko’s breasts teasing the darker parts around her nipples and then ducked down again to put one of them in his mouth. His teeth grazed the aroused nubs making Kazuko’s breath hitch in the back of her throat. He loved those tiny sounds that he could coax from her. Every time Kazuko squirmed under him or those sounds left her throat he felt like something hot collected deep inside of him, and he could feel his own length harden inside his trousers. But right now he couldn’t even think about pleasuring himself. All of his thoughts were focused on Kazuko and her pleasure. His mouth left its place on her breasts to move down once more. He nibbled at her hip and sucked on the soft pale skin to leave a small mark there. Kazuko buckled up under him, and he grinned a bit before he hooked his left hand under her knee to lift it up. 

Ohno pushed up the skirt a bit more, smiling appreciatively at the milky skin of her thighs. His head moved on his own to bit the soft inside of it and suck at the flesh as Kazuko let out a louder moan. He wandered closer to her middle and nosed the now slightly damp slip she wore. “May I?” he asked with a husky voice relishing in the whiny sound she let out. 

“Please.” Kazuko pushed herself closer to that promising mouth. Normally she would hold herself back especially if Ohno was so close to her, fearing that she was pushing Ohno too much. But because of all the caresses up to now she couldn’t help herself but want more, and it seems as if Ohno was enjoying what he was doing and how Kazuko reacted to it.

Ohno moved back and sat back up onto his heels to be able to look at the body spread out in front of him. Kazuko was beautiful, and he would enjoy watching her the whole night if he could do that without getting killed by her that was. He opened the zipper of her skirt to remove the last of her clothing, his fingers tracing the now naked skin lovingly. 

Kazuko met his eyes and moved her hands to tug softly at his shirt. “Take it off,” she demanded, and he grinned. 

“Everything you want, my love,” he mumbled stripping out of his shirt and moving down so that Kazuko was able to put her arms around his back. The small fingers spread out on his shoulders and she traced his warm skin lovingly as she moved around a bit to press kisses along his shoulder and collarbone until she put a firm kiss to the centre of his chest. Ohno pressed his lower body against hers for a moment to relieve a bit of his want. A soft moan escaped him, and he kissed her deeply again. 

Ohno shifted a bit back again, still kissing Kazuko, while his fingers wandered over the warm body of Kazuko teasing all the spots that he knew would make her go crazy. Soon enough Kazuko had to break the kiss to moan more loudly as she pressed her head into the cushions. Ohno smirked as his fingers reached their destination between Kazuko’s tighs and he carefully slid in between them to make sure that she couldn’t close them if it got too much for her. Kazuko groaned even louder when his fingers pressed against her middle, and his middle finger rubbed against her clitoris.

Kazuko squirmed against him not really sure if she wanted to move closer or if she wanted to move away from the ministrations. She always got overwhelmed quickly feeling that kind of pleasure. Before Ohno, she had never been sure that she would be able to feel so much pleasure as she did with him. 

Ohno moved back again to be able to observe her wholly as she moved under him. Her cheeks had gone red, and her eyes were screwed close as she tried to catch her breathe harshly. Kazuko bit her lips as she tried to calm down but whined in protest when Ohno moved away again. She blinked her eyes open, and he ducked down to kiss her cute button nose before opening the bedside drawer. His hands wandered up to trace her perky nubs and pinched them slightly. Ohno carefully massaged her right breast with one hand before watching her again after he had received what he wanted from the drawer. 

Ohno stuck out his tongue to lick over the erect nipple of her left breast and to nibble on the hard nub until he was satisfied with Kazuko’s reactions. Her fingers wandered through his hair, and she tugged softly at it until he let go of her breasts and moved up again to initiate a new kiss to which Kazuko responded quite eagerly. Ohno opened the bottle of lube he brought earlier and forced Kazuko’s legs to open wider. 

“Urgh,” Kazuko protested slightly as she wriggled under him until she was comfortable again. Ohno sucked at her tongue as he put some lube on his fingers to manipulate her a bit more. This time with the lube to make the next steps more comfortable for Kazuko. Even if Kazuko got wet during their foreplay, it never seemed to be enough for her to be really pleased with anything invading her. So it was much more comfortable that way. 

Kazuko moved against Ohno’s movements inside of her and against her a whine leaving her when Ohno removed his fingers and pecked her lips a few times to soothe her. 

He grabbed the vibrator he took earlier and moved it over her heated skin. Ohno's lips wandered to her collarbone to nibble on it as Kazuko shuddered under his ministrations. 

“Toshi please more. I’m so hot,” she whined making him chuckle a little. 

“You don’t have to beg, love.”

Kazuko rolled her eyes and pinched his side thrusting up against his middle to make him swear loudly. She smirked and bit his ear. “Then why are you teasing me so much?” she asked in a low voice. 

“Because, my dear, I love seeing you squirm like that. All hot and needy for me. But still so helpless,” he answered in a husky voice and moved the vibrator down. He put it on the highest level and put it on Kazuko's clitoris. Kazuko screamed in surprise at the sudden change of pace and tried to move away from him or at least close her legs against the sudden assault. But of course, Ohno already anticipated that right from the beginning as he had placed himself right between her legs to stop her from doing that. 

Kazuko clenched her teeth in a hiss and grabbed the sheets under her hard. One hand unconsciously moved towards her lap to move the vibrator at least a bit from its place, but Ohno’s hand caught her before she got even aware of what she was doing. Ohno lovingly kissed her fingertips and the inside of her wrist before licking the pulse point. He looked down into her ecstatic face that moved slightly from side to side. 

Kazuko bit her lips again as she moved her lower body unconsciously for more friction. Ohno groaned at that sight, Kazuko was so sexy right now, and it was hard for him to hold back. He teased the perky breasts again before having to bring some distance between them. He just couldn’t keep still anymore. Ohno made sure that the vibrator was still in its place and led Kazuko’s hand to his jeans.

Kazuko blinked a bit as he felt the thick cloth under her hand and she needed a moment to focus on the button her fingers rested upon. She popped the buttons open shakingly and pushed the jeans down just enough for her to slip her fingers inside of Ohno’s boxer shorts to stroke the hot flesh hidden underneath. She moaned as she felt the hard cock and traced the veins she could feel on it. She rubbed the tip smearing precum before closing her hand entirely around the length to give it two tugs. 

Ohno moved against her hand for a few more thrusts before Kazuko removed her hand to tug at his shorts. “Take them off now!” Kazuko demanded.

He groaned when he observed Kazuko bringing her hand close to her lips to lick at the salty precum on them. A full body shiver ran over him at that image. With fast movements, he took off his jeans and shorts before moving upon her again. He kissed her softly and lovingly before moving so that he could thrust into her. They both moaned in unison the moment Ohno entered her and Kazuko moved to remove the vibrator. Having that on her and Ohno pushing into her at the same time was too much.

Kazuko clung to Ohno’s back as he began thrusting into her with fast hard movements. She clenched down on him as they moved together. Ohno’s hand found her clitoris again to stimulate it as Kazuko moved against him. She felt shivers breaking out over her body once more at the stimulation and felt almost as if all was too much. Every touch was like overstimulation right now that Ohno's fingers on her almost hurt. 

Ohno thrust faster as he could feel his orgasm coming and Kazuko clenched tightly around him to make the experience even better for him. Ohno bit Kazuko’s shoulder the moment he released inside of her earning a full body shudder from Kazuko again who was pressing automatically closer to him as she felt the hot semen inside her. Ohno held himself up above her as he shuddered through his orgasm. He needed a small moment to catch his breath and pull out of her before lying down beside her as to not crush her under his weight. 

Kazuko whined when she realised how far away he was now. Ohno smiled softly, gathering her into his arms. He kissed her hairline softly as he felt her shivers subside inside his arms and waited for her breathing to calm down.

“Hate you,” she mumbled tiredly making him laugh loudly. 

“Same,” he replied and hugged her close before making sure that she was well covered in a blanket and wouldn’t freeze during the night. 

Kazuko shuffled even closer to him and kissed the middle of his chest in thanks. She knew she should get up and clean herself but right now she felt comfortably warm, tired and sated - in no way ready to move away from Ohno and his soft caresses to her hot skin. 

Ohno untangled a few strands of her hair softly pressing kisses again and again on her hairline until he could feel her sag against him and falling to sleep slowly.


	11. Chapter 11

Kazuko was lying on the big sofa waiting for Ohno. With a sigh, she looked at the clock. Ohno was late today as he tended to be for the last few days. She knew it was because of his job. She didn’t know exactly what happened, but she knew it was terrible. 

Kazuko got up from the sofa to check on the tea she had prepared earlier, relieved to see that it was still warm in the thermal flask she had put it in. She perked up when the door finally opened, and Ohno came in. “Oh-chan, welcome back,” she greeted happily and kissed his cheek lovingly when he strode into the kitchen where she was. 

“I’m home,” he mumbled, and she caressed his cheek softly. She kissed him again and was glad when a small smile appeared on his face. 

“Do you want something to eat?” she asked. “I made tea, sit down in the living room and I’ll bring it to you.”

“Thank you. I’m not particularly hungry, though.” With a shrug Ohno went to sit on the sofa, thanking Kazuko for the tea. 

“When did you eat the last time?”

“I had a sandwich for lunch,” Ohno mumbled an answer. 

Kazuko frowned before vanishing to the kitchen to reheat the pasta she made earlier the day. She said down beside Ohno with the plate for him in hand forcing him to take it and leaning against Ohno as she put on low music. “You are stressed. I don’t like it,” she grumbled. 

Ohno laughed and kissed her head while devouring the pasta she made. He really hadn’t been hungry before taking the first bite. After that, he had realised how starved he actually was. 

Kazuko sat beside him drinking hot chocolate she had made earlier until Ohno put the plate away and pulled Kazuko closer to him. 

“I don’t like it either. But the props are almost finished. I just hope that this time no newcomer will destroy half of it.”

Kazuko kissed his chin, giggling at the slight stubble there and laid her head on his shoulder. “That is good. I don’t want you to be stressed anymore.”

“Awww,” Ohno crooned and kissed her hair. Kazuko always made his stress evaporate the moment he came inside their warm home. He didn’t know how Kazuko managed it, but their little apartment was always the perfect temperature and smelled good. “Poor baby. Give it a few more days, and I’m all relaxed again.”

“Okay,” she sighed a bit sadly as she would like to do more to help Ohno. But all she could do was being here and making sure that he had everything he needed once he entered their home.

They stayed silent for a while longer, Ohno hugging his girlfriend tightly while she drank her hot chocolate. Kazuko kissed his shoulder when she laid down her head on it and closed her eyes relaxing easily. 

“Kazuko?”

“Mhm?”

“Do you believe in soulmates?” Ohno asked, and she looked up at him in surprise. 

“Soulmates?”

“Yup. You know the play they do is a very romantic one talking about two people who lived through different lives and ended up together every lifetime. Sadly one of them always died shortly after they met,” he explained. 

Kazuko scrunched up her nose and shuddered a bit in his arms. “Sounds depressing, though. They were never really happy together in the end?”

“In the modern world, they meet in school and stay together. Nobody dies.”

“At least something… Do you believe in soulmates?”

“Mhmm… I dunno. It’s a nice idea isn’t it?”

“Probably, also scary to think that you might have someone you are destined to be with. How will you know?” Kazuko asked with a frown, giggling when Ohno pinched her in the side. 

“Hey! You were supposed to say that I’m right and that you are my other half,” he said with a playful pout. 

Kazuko giggled even harder and pecked his lips lovingly for a few times. “You are such a sap,” she scolded. 

“But you love me for it, come on say it.” Ohno looked at her in amusement and began to tickle her. 

Kazuko began to laugh harder at that and squirmed under him. Tears were running over her face because she had to laugh so hard under the other. “Please, stop,” she begged and tried to get away.

But Ohno was flexible enough to bring Kazuko under him to keep her in place. He continued to attack her grinning happily at her. Seeing Kazuko’s laughing face was like a potion for him. “Say it, and I’ll stop.”

“I’m not as sappy as you,” she cried out loud still wriggling under him, trying to get away. 

Ohno continued to torment her even if it was harder now to hold her in place. He didn’t only have to make sure that she couldn’t get away but also wanted to protect her from falling down from the sofa. “I won’t stop earlier,” he threatened and moved to stop a kick that was aimed at his side. 

“Damn! Okay, okay, I give up,” she cried. 

Ohno moved back a little but still posed to be able to attack her again if she didn’t tell him what he wanted to her. 

Kazuko caught her breathe, and when she saw Ohno’s fingers coming closer again, she held up his hands. Damn, sometimes she really hated how good Ohno could manipulate her with his fingers. “If soulmates exist,” she began as Ohno lifted an eyebrow. “If they exist, you have to be mine. Because you will be stuck with me and it would kill me to know there might be another person destined to be with you. There is no way in hell I will ever let you go,” she said softly. 

Ohno’s mouth opened in surprise at those words, and he ducked down to press a loving kiss to the side of her mouth. He trailed his kisses down her cheek until he reached her ear. With a kiss to her earlobe, he hugged her tight and closed his eyes to breathe in her sweet scent. “I will fight everybody and everything that dares to stand in between you and me,” he promised in a hushed whisper with a bright smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Kazuko let out a big sigh as she reached for the phone. She was scared of what she was about to hear. Her parents had written her just minutes earlier that she should call them as soon as she had some time. She listened to the sound of the phone until a click connected her with her mother. 

“Hello, Kazuko speaking?” she said slowly and sat down on the sofa. “You asked me to call you?” She silently listened to the explanation of her mother. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. “How certain is he?” Again she listened intently and played with a pen nearby. She had to keep her hands occupied otherwise she would jump up and run around or cry. She didn’t want to cry. Not that her mother wouldn’t understand, but it was hard on her as well. “Okay, I see. Thank you for telling me. It’s okay just call them to confirm. And please… Be beside him?” she asked in a choked voice. Damn. She took a few deep breaths. She didn’t want to make it harder on her mother after all. “And cuddle him extra tightly today? Thank you. Please tell me when the appointment is over. I just want to be sure that he wouldn’t be hurt anymore.” Her mother promised, and with a tight-lipped smile, she said goodbye before disconnecting the call. 

Kazuko stared at the phone for a moment after it and then put it away slowly. She raised from her spot and moved over to the broom. The flat needed a sweep she decided numbly. She felt weird. Of course, she was sad, but it was as if she was disconnected from her body. She cleaned the apartment and turned on the TV as she was finished. Ohno promised her Indian food as a takeout today, so no cooking to occupy her mind. Kazuko watched the show without realising what was going on. Not really at least. Her eyes wandered to the clock, and she tried to decide how long it would take Ohno to come over. She stood again after a moment and took the pint of chocolate ice cream from the freezer. Huddled under her favourite crocheted blanket with her penguin stuffed toy tugged beside her, she began eating it. 

It was quite sudden that tears built up in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She pressed her hand before her mouth when a sob left her lips. Damn! She didn’t want to cry, but now that she started she couldn’t stop. She pulled the blanket higher to press her face into the soft fabric and to stifle her sobs. 

Kazuko didn’t realise that the door opened and Ohno called out in his soft loving voice. She was too deep into her own pain and sorrow to realise anything. 

To say he was shocked was probably an understatement. Ohno stepped into the living room to find his girlfriend reduced to a weeping mess. Without so much as a thought, he put the takeout boxes on the floor and climbed onto the sofa to gather the woman in a warm hug. “What happened, baby?” he asked, and she pressed her face into his chest. 

“Mom called,” she explained, and Ohno hummed a bit not really understanding why that was a reason to cry. Kazuko talked with her mother rather regularly. Right from the beginning weekly calls - sometimes if there was much stress - was the norm for them. It took a while until Kazuko was able to answer and when she did her voice was quivering really badly. “It’s Haru. He didn’t eat well for a while, and mom took him to the vet. He has an inoperable tumour on his lung. They told her to put him to sleep as not to prolong his suffering.” Kazuko was back to sobbing and Ohno closed his eyes as he hugged her closer. 

“I told her to do it, she wanted to ask me before deciding. But I don’t want him to suffer. I just feel so bad. I can’t say goodbye. I can’t be with him in his last minutes on earth. I…”

“Shh… Please calm down,” Satoshi asked and swayed her in his arms to hopefully calm her down at least a bit. He knew how important Haru was to Kazuko. It had been heart-wrenching when she decided to move with him to a city five hours away because he had more chances to find work here and the university was here as well. But that meant that she couldn’t just hop onto a train to visit home. Not with their finances being so low as they were right now. “Haru doesn’t hate you. He was happier with your mother in the house with the big garden than here in our tiny flat in the big city,” he whispered, and she calmed down slowly.

Kazuko knew he was right. Still, she felt as if she was letting her beloved pet down because she couldn’t accompany him on his last trip. “I’m the worst person on Earth.”

“I won’t comment on that. You know that it’s not true, but you won’t believe me right now,” Ohno sighed and ruffled her hair slightly. “Haru knows you love him. Haru always knew ne? He was happy when you were at home, cuddling with you all the time. But he was happy with your mother as well. He hated the city. And after all, he won’t be alone ne? Your dad or mom would be beside him until the very end.” 

Kazuko nodded and sniffed slightly. She knew that Ohno was right. Haru had been scared because of all the traffic here. It was a hard decision but probably the right one. But even then she felt like the worst person on Earth. The only good thing was that Haru had been a family pet. Not just hers. 

“I still feel horrible because I can’t go. It’s like I failed Haru,” Kazuko whispered. Ohno nodded silently and kissed her forehead. 

“I know. You need to eat though. I brought the curry as you ordered. Come on a bit.”

“I’m not hungry,” she denied, and Ohno nodded again. He knew that, but still, she needed to eat.

Ohno stretched to get the boxes for once happy that the takeout boxes were easy to handle and opened them. Ohno put the plushie between them and forced Kazuko to sit more straightly. “Eat,” he demanded and put a spoon filled with rice and curry in front of her mouth until she opened her mouth obediently. He began to feed her until he was sure that she was mostly full and proceeded to eat his share while hugging her with one arm while she was crying silently against him. Ohno knew he could do nothing to make her feel better but to hug her tightly and be beside her for tonight. He hoped tomorrow it would be better again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest: I really feel down right now. So sorry for anybody that might wait for any new chapters on my stories.


	13. Chapter 13

>We are going on a shopping trip, be ready in a bit!< Kazuko blinked at the message and stared at it for quite a moment. She didn’t know anything about shopping. But it also wasn’t that surprising, she thought wryly. It had been a while since she and Junko had gone out shopping and it was just the time of the year the other woman would want to go. Sale had just begun after all. 

It also wasn’t surprising that Junko would give her no choice but to come with her. After all, Kazuko hated to go outside and spend money was even worse. Still, she didn’t want to anger Junko, and it had been a long while since they went out. She frowned because she should probably be madder, but in the end she snatched her phone on the way to the bedroom to decide on clothes to wear. They should be chic but comfortable enough to be able to change into different kinds of clothes. 

“Hello, Kazuko is everything okay?”

“Yup, don’t worry. Junko just wrote she is on the way to fetch me and take me shopping.”

“Sounds good,” Ohno said with a chuckle.

Kazuko rummaged through her cupboard and whined a bit. “She will make me try anything she things might be cute on me.”

“Everything is cute when you wear it! Get something you like, Kazuko. And enjoy the day. I will get something to eat for dinner as a take out. Just write to me when you are home early, so I bring something for you as well.”

“I will. I just called to let you know I might not be here when you get back. Otherwise, you worry too much.”

“Can’t help that. Have fun, dear. I have to get going otherwise Ryo might get beheaded by whatever he is trying to attach to the ceiling.”

Kazuko chuckled since she could almost see the unhappy frown on Ohno’s face by whatever he is watching right now. 

“Oh, and I will take you to the next premier of the new play. Just if you want to buy something new for that.”

“Will do. Be careful.”

“Of course, love you.”

The call was disconnected before Kazuko could say those words back and she frowned as she typed out a last message to Ohno before deciding on a skirt and top combination. 

She hurried to the bathroom to wash up and change into the new clothes. She put on a bit of makeup and pulled her hair into a french braid over one shoulder to be sure that it wouldn’t get in the way or entirely tangled when she changed into different tops or dresses. That was the worst. 

>I’ll be at yours in ten.<

>Almost ready! I’m getting out.< Kazuko chose a light lipstick for today since she just felt for it and put it into a small bag with her wallet and phone. The last piece of clothing to put on were her sandals, and she was ready to go. And after all that, she had to say that she was a bit excited about going outside and looking at the different kinds of clothes.

She went outside, and a few moments later Junko’s car was pulling up beside her. She got in and grinned at the other girl. 

“Good morning.”

“Morning, ready to go?”

“Yup, but why?” Kazuko asked finally what was on her mind all the time she was getting ready. 

“I was bored and thought why not? I’m still on my holidays after all, and work will start next week again.”

Kazuko nodded in understanding and leant back to rest for the time it took them to go to their destination. It took almost half an hour for them to reach their favourite mall. 

—

“I need a break,” Kazuko groaned in the late afternoon and stretched out her back. The small of her back was really aching after all that walking around and trying on lots of skirts, tops and dresses. She was happy about a few things she found that were on sale and that she liked.

“Let’s have a parfait there. They look cute.”

“I need a drink.”

“Okay, we can have both. Choose a table you like.” 

Kazuko grinned happily since that meant she could get on the seat at the wall. Junko looked amused but didn’t say anything as she sat on the chair across from Kazuko and put the bags under the table so that the waitress wouldn’t fall over them. 

After a short silence while they looked for their orders - a green tea parfait and iced coffee for Kazuko and caramel parfait and black tea for Junko - the other looked thoughtfully at Kazuko. 

“Do you have everything you want?”

“Mhm… Oh-chan told me he will take me to a premiere of a play they are doing at the moment. I think I need something more classy than what I have for that.”

Junko hummed and thanked their waitress for their order when she arrived. Kazuko smiled at her in thanks before taking a sip of her iced coffee. It was delicious and the thing she needed just now. She felt Junko’s eyes on her at that and looked up. 

“What’s it?”

“Nothing… I just thought… You look happy.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because you sounded anxious the other day I called you.”

Kazuko grimaced as she tried to think back to that talk and shook her head slowly. She put her chin on her hand and played with the spoon in her hand as she watched the ice cream melting a bit. 

“It was nothing. It was just me being silly.”

“And that’s supposed to make me calm down?”

“Yup. Oh-chan has scolded me enough already. He said we are fine the way we are and that I should take time. I was just upset…” Kazuko stopped talking and tried the parfait. 

“Yummy,” she said in surprise. She hadn’t thought it was so good. But it was neither too sweet nor too bitter just perfect.

Junko laughed and finally began eating her own dessert. “Sho asked me to marry him.”

Kazuko’s eyes widened, and she had to cough suddenly. “What?” she croaked making Junko advert his eyes a bit.

“He asked me yesterday.”

“What did you say?”

“Yes but only if he lets me decide everything and I will get his suit. I don’t trust him in fashion choices or anything in that,” Junko explained with a snort.

Kazuko giggled a bit but then stood up to hug her friend for a short moment. “I’m happy for you. Took him long enough.”

“Not as long as it takes that boyfriend of yours.”

Kazuko shrugged. “He will when he thinks it’s the perfect time for it. It’s not s if I care so much about it, but he wants it to be special.”

“At least your boyfriend has some sense and will make it so that you can’t forget it. Sho asked me while eating dinner at home.” Junko pouted as she stuffed another spoon into her mouth. 

Kazuko giggled at that and shook her head in amusement. She was sure that Junko also would never forget how she was proposed to. “But you are happy?”

“Of course.” Junko’s face softened at those words considerably. 

Kazuko nodded and let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Junko looked happy, and that was all that was important after all. Kazuko sighed a bit and looked at the clothes in the bags. “When will the marriage be. Do you know already?”

“About half a year? We need to make all the arrangements after all. What’s wrong?”

“Ah, well nothing. I just thought about that I have to go dress shopping again then.”

“I’ll make you my bridesmaid.”

Kazuko looked up in surprise and felt her cheeks heat up at that. “Thank you!”

Junko grinned at that and nodded before finishing her treats. Kazuko did the same and took the bags after Junko paid for them both. “Are you ready to find the perfect dress to make Ohno fall into love with you even more.”

Kazuko laughed but followed her quickly. She probably had other things that would make Ohno love her even more than a new dress, but that was for later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This story got much longer than I thought it ever would. I hope it’s okay that Jun is a woman as well and Sho is now her fiance. Those are the things I had in mind from the beginning (I tend to imagine all their roles in all my stories even If the other members never appear in any chapters, so I hope that this is okay :/)  
> Also, I try to get back to writing, but I have had a hard time lately with that. And I feel bad because of that as well.


	14. Chapter 14

Ohno was nervous as he stood backstage and watched the practise run of the play he invited Kazuko to. It wasn’t the first play that he would see with his girlfriend and it was a big bonus that he got free tickets for the premiere as one of the chief costume builders. 

At least Kazuko wouldn’t know that there was something up. He clapped with the rest of the crew as the practice finished without mishaps. Ohno let out a deep sigh leaning against the wall behind him. He was nervous. It was such a silly thing to be worried about, but he couldn’t help it. 

“You need to practise?” Ryo asked him. 

Ohno looked up and shook his head. “It will be fine. If I practise too much my voice will vanish in the actual take.”

Ryo grinned at that. “Are you nervous?”

“Of course I am.” Ohno grimaced softly and shook his head. He loved Kazuko, and he wanted to do this perfectly for her. Of course, Ohno knew that Kazuko didn’t care about the way he proposed. But he did. He just hoped that his girlfriend wouldn’t be too embarrassed but more touched so that she would say yes and not anything else. 

Ohno looked at the actors talking and laughing at the backstage and left his place after another glance at his watch. He checked the stage one last time and made sure everything was in order before walking over to the other staff members for the last meeting. He made sure that everybody knew what to do since he would be down with the audience for today just beside Kazuko. 

“If something out of order happens you can contact me, and I will come to the back,” he said. 

“Don’t worry we can do it,” Keiko said, and he grinned. He totally trusted the others but first days were always filled with nerves. 

“Have fun with your girlfriend, boss.”

“I will.” Ohno rolled his eyes. Then he waved at the others and went to the back to take a shower and change clothes so that he would look like someone attending a premiere of the play and not like he was working here. Silly as it was he wanted to blend in with the rest of audience. 

Ohno put on his jacket, checking if he had everything: Tissues, a pamphlet of the play and of course the ring. He opened the small box to look at the small band of rose gold with a little blue stone in the middle and hoped that he chose the right one. 

Kazuko was particular in which kind of jewellery she liked, but he had seen that and fell in love and could imagine how it would look on Kazuko’s fingers.

He put it back when his phone beeped indicating that Kazuko had arrived and was waiting outside for him. He left the private rooms and got a few shoulder claps on the way out. He was genuinely thankful that the others allowed him to use today to propose for Kazuko even if that meant more work for them. 

—

Kazuko hugged the black long scarf tighter around herself while she waited. It was drizzling a little bit, and she barely fit under the small roof at the theatre with all the other people who wanted to get in. 

She looked at her phone and hoped that Ohno would appear fast. She bit her painted lips tightly and tugged down the skirt of her black dress as a breeze went over her. 

The dress she had bought with Junko went to the middle of her thighs. The top part was slightly seen through as were the long sleeves and it had a high collar that was decorated with flowers in the same colour. Her tights were black until her knees and then skin coloured with a small heart that could be just seen. 

Her hair was pulled up loosely on one side, and she had a hair band with small roses in her hair to keep it under control and have something else on her that was the same colour of the hearts on her tights. 

The black scarf was big enough to cover most of her back so it wasn’t too cold outside even if she would be happy to be inside and to sit down. She hated heels, but flat shoes didn’t seem to fit that well with the rest of her outfit.

“You look beautiful.”

Kazuko looked up at the awed voice of Ohno and smiled a bit embarrassed. “Thank you.”

Ohno kissed her softly to make sure not to smudge her lipstick. 

“Don’t worry about that. The people at the shop said the lipstick is kiss-proofed. Junko said so as well, and she should know.” he 

Ohno rolled his eyes and let her take a grip of his arm. “Ready to go in?”

“Yes, please. I want to sit down.”

“First let’s have a drink. Sparkling wine for you?”

Kazuko frowned and shook her head. “Water or juice is fine, thank you.”

Ohno shrugged and got them both their drinks and handed her a glass of orange juice while he kept his water. He still had to work, and he wanted to have a clear head.

His eyes wandered over Kazuko again, and he couldn’t help the loving smile on his face. He loved her so much, and she looked beautiful tonight. 

“You are staring.”

“Can’t help it. You are radiating. The most beautiful woman in the whole room.”

Kazuko giggled and leant against him. “Silly idiot.”

Ohno hugged her with one arm and pressed a kiss to his forehead before sipping on the water and greeting a few people from the show. When the first bell sounded, he brought Kazuko to their seats in the front row, and they sat down to watch the play.

—

Ohno felt his phone vibrate shortly after the last act started and blinked. He had forgotten his plan for a moment entirely. 

“I have to check on something. Stay here and enjoy the rest,” he whispered into Kazuko’s ear. 

The woman glanced at him for a second before she nodded and let go of his hand to allow him to leave. 

Ohno ducked down low as he used the nearest exit to leave the auditorium and then ran backstage. He rubbed his forehead and took calming breathes before looking for the others to make sure that really no problems occurred. 

When he was sure that nothing was amiss, he changed into one of the costumes of the actors for the last act. Usually, it was a medley from a few songs of the play they were doing right now. Today it would start like that again but then would be his part. 

He let someone put on a microphone and waited until he got the okay to stand in the back with the other ones. He didn’t know when Kazuko would realise that he was on the stage but he hoped not until he was in the spotlight. 

“Nervous?”

“If someone asks me that again, I probably will start to yell. Yes, I am. But I should be able to dance the parts well enough.”

“Of course. It’s a shame you don’t want to do it regularly,” Keiko sighed beside him. 

Ohno smiled amusedly and shook his head. Yes, he liked to dance, but that was usually something he did for Kazuko or even better with her. To stand on the stage and in the middle of everything wasn’t his calling. 

Someone counted down in his ear, and he could hear the audience clapping until he was pushed onto the stage and let instinct win over as he did the choreo he had memorised until it was his solo part and the lights changed.

—

Kazuko tried to see if Satoshi was coming back anytime soon but then she decided to watch the rest of the play. She knew that Ohno would pick her up and until then she could stay inside. So she wouldn’t have to worry about getting cold at least.

When the lighting changed, she blinked for a moment in shock as she realised that Ohno was standing there in the middle of the stage. Her mouth fell open in shock, and she moved a bit nervous in her seat. 

She listened to the beautiful love song and felt tears springing to her eyes as she realised that some of those things fitted them perfectly. She felt herself growing warm when she remembered all the time that Ohno did something just for her. Things he didn’t like but knew that she needed it to feel good. 

She pressed her hand against his lips as to not make any sounds. She couldn’t believe how perfect Ohno thought she was. 

After the song ended Ohno jumped from the stage, and for a morbid moment, Kazuko imagined him falling down and hurting himself. She jumped up to catch him, but of course, Ohno didn’t have any problem but took Kazuko’s hands and knelt in front of her with a shy but also cheeky smile on his lips. 

“Kazuko, you are the best thing that could have ever happened to me, and I will never live without you. I love you. Please marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?”

Kazuko moved her lips, but no word left them. This silly dorky man, she thought, and then again, he belonged to her only. Without being able to say anything she nodded and tugged at Ohno’s hand in hers until he stood to hug him around the neck and hide her face. 

“You stupid big dork,” she whispered with tears in her eyes and could feel the soft chuckle against her ears. 

“Is that a yes?”

“Of course I won’t let you go.”

Ohno smirked proudly and moved her away carefully to pull out the ring he bought. He showed it to her and kissed her lips softly. 

“Then take this?”

“Only if you put it on.”

Ohno smiled and retook her hand in his to slip the ring over her ring finger and put a kiss on top of it. It was a promise.


	15. Chapter 15

Kazuko grinned when she observed herself in the mirror. They were having a Halloween party, and she couldn’t wait for this evening. Meeting with their friends was always fun even if she always made sure that everybody thought she hated these gatherings. 

It was also true. She had hated them when they had been younger. Loud parties full of strangers weren’t her thing. Also, she saw her friends almost daily at school or after-school activities. So there was no sense to meet outside of that if someone asked her. Free days were dedicated to her boyfriend and nothing else. 

Nowadays it was different. It was very seldom that they were able to meet all together because someone had always go to work or was out of the country. That was why today was so special. All five (plus Masaki’s new boyfriend, Kazuko hasn’t met him yet and was a bit curious about this love of Masaki’s life) would be there. It was a party held in one of their favourite cafes where Ohno would drag her to whenever he wanted something sweet and delicious (which was often). Luckily it had also delicious coffee and not so sweet treats that she liked, and the atmosphere was really great. 

For holidays they often did special parties like today’s Halloween party. Kazuko had to make sure to get the six tickets weeks before the event was even held because they were often very popular. But she had managed. It helped that the owner had a crush on her for years now. Something that she found incredibly cute and Ohno more than a bit annoying. Still, Ohno had somehow become friend with him because “How could he be angry at someone who just realised how perfect Kazuko was?” Ohno’s words, not hers. Ohno had almost felt sorry for the man because he would never have a chance with her. Kazuko shook her head and took a deep breath as she looked at herself again. Since it was a Halloween party, she had to dress up a bit and had decided to wear a cute devil witch outfit.

Her hair was put in a high ponytail with small red horns on her head. Then a short black dress with red accents that reminded her of a ballet dress because of the skirt and high knee socks decorated with red bats. To top it off she wore small bat wings and a black cloak with red inlay and more bats and a graveyard design on the inlay. Her shoes were black with a red stone on the front, and she wore black gloves that went to her elbows again with red accents on it. Of course, she had a top hat and a wand as well, and she thought she looked charming.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Ohno called from the entryway.

“A second,” she yelled back and put on red lipstick before leaving the bathroom. She grinned when Ohno looked her up and down.

“You look sexy,” he breathed, making her laugh. “I was wondering how you will make witch and devil work at the same time, but you really did. Urgh! Can we stay in? I can’t let anybody see you like that.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Let’s go, or we’ll be late, and then Junko might kill us.”

“She is scary,” Ohno agreed. 

Kazuko grinned and kissed his cheek, being careful as not to smudge her lipstick as it hadn’t dried fully yet. Ohno had decided to make himself a mask and got help by the theatre staff to turn into a monster king. An excellent looking one at that.

—

They arrived at the cafe shortly after and got greeted by the others. As she thought they were the last ones and Junko was not that impressed by their tardiness since Kazuko still held all of their tickets to get in. 

“Sorry we got into a bit of traffic,” Ohno said and ignored the scoffing of Sho. They had the shortest way to go, and it was impossible that they were stuck in traffic since, in fact, they went here by foot.

To cut the upcoming argument off, Kazuko produced the tickets from her bag and showed them to the boy at the door who greeted them with a smile and bowed them in. The cafe was very well made up to look like a cave with spiderwebs and creatures of the dark. It was beautiful, and it was hard to believe that usually the walls were painted a soft yellow with darker accents and soft lightings.

“Do you want something to drink?” Aiba asked, and she shrugged. 

“Juice would be great or something like that,” she asked. She watched Aiba leave and leant against Ohno who kissed her nape softly. 

“Ready to mingle?”

“Masaki is just getting us drinks. We can’t vanish like that,” she scolded.

“Ah, yeah I forgot…” Ohno looked at her a bit embarrassed and decided to talk to Sho about something. 

Junko turned to her at that and observed her carefully. “Congratulations,” she said.

Kazuko blinked and tilted her head. “For what?”

“On your engagement. We haven’t seen since then,” Junko replied rolling her dark eyes. 

Kazuko blushed a bit at those words. “Ah right, thank you.” She had forgotten entirely about that, somehow. 

“Or is there anything else we should congratulate you?” Junko asked with a smirk.

Kazuko blanched at that and shook her head. “Of course not. Whatever could that be?” she asked nervously and looked around. Luckily Aiba chose that moment to return with his boyfriend and their drinks. 

“I got you a spooky cocktail. But no alcohol,” he explained. 

Kazuko smiled thankfully and tried not to meet Junko’s eyes who looked her over knowingly. “Thanks, Masaki, the medicine I take sadly doesn’t allow the intake of alcohol,” she explained a bit louder so that Junko would hear that.

Aiba looked at her a bit confusingly because he didn’t ask but shrugged it off going over to the other men to give them their drinks. 

“Your medicine, of course,” Junko scoffed and would have said something more just to torment Kazuko, but friends chose that second to call her over. 

Kazuko smiled relieved and drank her drink while sidling up to Ohno. “Dance with me?” she asked after she had finished most.

Ohno smiled and nodded. “Of course. Come on. Until later guys,” he called and waved at the others before taking Kazuko’s hand to spend most of their evening on the dance floor with breaks far in between to eat delicious food and have excellent drinks.


	16. Chapter 16

Kazuko groaned and rubbed her face tiredly. She leant back against the cold tiles behind her and let her head fall back with a thump. For a moment she just concentrated on breathing evenly. Kazuko rubbed her stomach a bit until she felt safe to get up and rinse her mouth. 

She felt tired and ill, but that was nothing new for those last few days. She was lucky that Ohno had to go to work early each day or he would have already forced her to go to the doctor. Kazuko put on her glasses since her eyes felt so irritated at the moment that just the thought of putting lenses was nasty.

“No chance,” she mumbled to herself as she slowly got ready to be able to head out. She had called the doctor yesterday already and was allowed to come over today. Of course, she didn’t have a fixed appointment, but it was better than nothing. 

She ate a bit before putting a book into her purse and leaving the house. She just hoped she would be back before Ohno came home.

—

Kazuko looked at her watch when she was allowed to leave the doctor’s office again and nibbled on her lower lip. It was already late and almost lunch time. But she was not ready to go home yet. A small frown was on her face as she took out her mobile to call Ohno. He should be getting ready to have lunch, and she hoped that they could meet. 

“Kazuko, is everything alright?” Ohno answered her call already after the second ring which was surprising for Kazuko, and she felt utterly sorry for worrying Ohno so much all the time. 

“Yup. I was just out and thought we could meet up for lunch? Or are you busy?”

“No… It’s a slow day. Do you want to eat here in the canteen or should we meet outside?”

“Outside please.” Kazuko’s face screwed up at the thought of the smells inside there. The meals weren’t that bad, she thought. But as there were so many things prepared the smell was horrible.

“Of course,” Ohno laughed softly and shook his head in obvious amusement. “Let’s meet at the Italian restaurant down the street then.”

“Thank you. Until then,” she agreed readily and ended the call to go to the said restaurant. 

Ohno looked at his phone a bit confused. It was seldom that Kazuko wanted to meet for lunch. It sometimes happened if she had free time between classes and missed him but that couldn’t have happened now.

Kazuko was meant to be at home and not close to his workplace in any way. Still, he was looking forward to seeing her. So he just told his colleagues that he would leave for his lunch break and would probably be out for a little longer than usual. 

—

“Hey,” Ohno greeted Kazuko when he saw her at a table with a glass of water in front of her. He moved a bit down to kiss her cheek. 

“Hey,” Kazuko answered with a smile and pointed at the seat in front of her so that Ohno would fit. 

“Did you already order?”

“Nope just the water.”

Ohno nodded and looked at the menu before deciding on a pizza. He smiled at the waiter as he approached them the moment he closed the list again.

“Are you ready to order?”

“Yes,” Kazuko nodded with a smile. She already decided when Ohno hadn’t arrived yet. 

“I’d like to have spaghetti Al Pomodoro.”

Ohno grinned and ordered his pizza with a glass of coke and then looked at his girlfriend again. He was worried about her, of course, he was. Kazuko always seemed to be tired these last few days and worried about something she wouldn’t tell him. Today she was also looking kind of exhausted, and she was paler than she usually was. Kazuko was pale, to begin with. She had always been, but this was even for her a bit much.

They waited in silence for their lunch while Ohno took the chance to look at his girlfriend in silence and trying to see what was wrong with her. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” She frowned and reached over to pinch his nose. At the grimace, he did she couldn’t help herself but to giggle loudly. 

“I can’t help it. You look exhausted and not exactly healthy,” Ohno replied, and she stuck out her tongue just to blush when their waiter brought over their food. 

“I’m not ill. Just tired,” she explained when the man was gone again, and they were left on their own. 

“For now I’m hungry, though. So let’s eat.”

Ohno nodded and began eating in silence. She looked at him thankfully and began to eat as well. The pasta was delicious just as she had hoped. 

Kazuko was lost in her thoughts for a bit as she chanced a look at Ohno who was enjoying his food. A smile appeared on her face at that. Ohno was always so cute when he was enjoying his food for real. 

“Let’s go for a walk afterwards?” she asked suddenly before she remembered that Ohno had work. She wanted to apologise, but Ohno was faster. 

“Of course, I have to call my workplace first though. I think I might be able to get the rest of the afternoon free.”

Kazuko wanted to complain that she wasn’t worth it but a look from Ohno shut her up quickly. Also, she was secretly happy that Ohno would spend more time with her together, so she decided not to fight today. They finished eating, and Ohno paid for their meal before stepping outside to make that promised call. 

As it was a slow day, he was allowed off earlier, as he had thought. He came back to take Kazuko by the hand leading her to a nearby park for the promised walk. He just hoped that Kazuko would tell him soon what was on her mind.


	17. Chapter 17

Kazuko stayed silent for a while as she held onto Ohno’s arm as he led the way throughout the park. She was again deep in her thoughts and didn’t really know what she should say. Or more like how she should mention it. Kazuko knew she worried Ohno a lot right now, but she couldn’t help herself. She was scared. She was more scared than she wanted to admit but it couldn’t be helped. 

She felt Ohno’s eyes on her, but she was still stubborn and looked straight ahead until she couldn’t bear it anymore and stopped. She tugged at Ohno’s sleeve and gifted him with a small smile. 

“Let’s stop for a moment”, she asked and pointed at the bench in front of a small lake. 

“Are you tired? Should we go back home? I can call a cab,” he offered, but she shook her head. She kissed his cheek and tugged her to the bench with more force now. 

They sat down there, and Kazuko held Ohno’s hand between hers when she could feel him fidget beside her. “Kazu you are worrying me,” Ohno finally said, and she winced. 

“I’m sorry. I just don’t really know what to do,” she said honestly and looked at her feet. 

“Is it bad?”

“No, not really. I… Satoshi I really wanted to tell you in another way,” she began and bit her lip. She knew that she made this unnecessarily complicated, but she was scared. That wasn’t true she was panicking, and that was definitely not good. Her hand wandered to her stomach, and she took a deep calming breath. 

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out in the end but stopped Ohno from saying anything. Ohno nodded at those words to show that he was listening. “But it’s still in a very early stage. I know the doctor said that now was the best time to try for a baby and that we didn’t really plan on it, but it happened. And now I’m scared. As it is still so small that it’s not sure if I will be able to keep it,” she explained and hid her face behind her hand. 

“Hey,” Ohno whispered carefully and took her hand in his own now to kiss it softly. 

“Here you are telling me the most wonderful news and try to make it bad at the same time? I get that you are worried because it’s you. You are a scaredy-cat, but I’m sure everything will be okay.”

“But it would be normal if I lose it in such an early stage.”

Ohno rolled his eyes and took her in his arms. “And there are lots of people who don’t lose their babies in an early stage. So why should it happen for you?”

“Because I’m always unlucky.” She pouted. 

He sighed and kissed her lips softly. “What did the doctor say?” 

“He said that I should be extra careful right now so that the baby and I are okay. And that I should come back for another examination in three weeks.”

“How far are you?”

“Five weeks.” Kazuko blushed a bit and looked at her hand on her stomach. Ohno chuckled and kissed her cheek again. He couldn't help himself. This news was wonderful, and the thought of having a small baby at their home soon was exciting and scary at the same time. 

“So then we will make sure that we are extra careful for the next weeks and months, ne?”

“And what if I lose it?”

“You won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know you and I know that you will do anything to make sure they safe with you and I will make sure that you are taken care off,” he whispered. 

She smiled and sighed a little. “You know, initially I didn’t want to tell you before the first two months are over,” she whispered. “I didn’t want you to worry or to be disappointed…”

Ohno shook his head and pinched her side lightly as punishment. “Idiot. I would never be disappointed in you. And you are not alone in this. I will be by your side the best I can. So please never hide anything from me. I would never forgive myself if you suffered alone.”

“Okay, I promise,” Kazuko whispered and kissed him on the lips softly. 

“Now we need to celebrate this wonderful news!” Ohno said excitedly. 

Kazuko laughed but let herself being pulled along by Ohno to the next flower shop to choose all of her favourites ones for a big bouquet. Afterwards, Ohno took her home to make sure she was comfortable, he could pamper her a little bit at least.

Kazuko stroked her still flat stomach with the little baby inside of her and couldn’t be happier right now. “You are a pea-sized miracle, huh?” she whispered to herself and felt a little bit silly to speak with something nobody was sure would stay inside of her and was still so small. 

Ohno put two cups of warm tea on the low table in front of the sofa and climbed onto it beside her. He hugged her closely and put his hands on top of Kazuko’s.

“You can’t imagine how happy you are making me,” he whispered.

She laughed and looked up at Ohno before kissing his lips softly. “Your eyes are sparkling. So I can make a pretty good guess,” she whispered and closed her eyes. 

“You can’t take that away from me, though.” He stroked her belly, and one of his hands wandered under her shirt to caress the warm skin underneath. 

“You know that you won’t feel anything yet, right?” she asked. 

Ohno shrugged again and kissed her head. “Be silent. I know. But still, I know that there is a little miracle inside, and that makes me very happy. I will pamper you these next eight months, so be warned.”

“I will have to tell my parents,” she groaned. “And yours.”

“Not just yet. Let’s enjoy the time between ourselves for a bit,” he said and wandered around her belly button. “We can tell them after your next appointment if you want. You will be calmer then as well.”

“Thank you,” she breathed a bit relieved. Yes, that would be good. She didn’t want to tell them with her fear still in her head. She took the tea between her hands and breathed the aroma in softly. “Ginger?”

“Yes, it’s healthy, and it helps if you are feeling ill.”

“Oh good. How did you know?” she asked surprised. 

Ohno grinned and hugged her close as he watched her drinking her tea. “Because you often feel ill. And if I can bet on one thing you will have during this pregnancy: It’s sickness throughout. Not only morning sickness, so tea to prevent that and make you feel better as much as possible.”

She giggled but nodded with a grimace. She really didn’t want to think about all the things that might take place during her pregnancy. That could wait as long as possible. 

“Is there anything that we have to be extra careful about?”

“No strenuous activities and I have a list about what I should eat or not eat. You can look it over later now I want to watch a movie, drinks this tea and cuddle with you.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Mala.

Kazuko was on the sofa the evening when Ohno came inside to greet her. He kissed the top of her head and then sat down beside her. 

“What’s that?” he asked and pointed at the badge that she was holding.

Kazuko blinked from where she had been staring at the badge for almost all of the afternoon and had turned it between her fingers curiously. Now she turned it around to show it to Ohno. “I’ve been to the doctor for my first real appointment. He said that everything looks perfect and he could find a heartbeat,” she explained with a shy smile. 

She couldn’t believe the words of her doctor as she was almost sure that something had gone wrong. She hadn’t been bleeding and almost immediately stopped taking the pill prescribed to her for her endometriosis but still. She had been too scared to believe that there was something alive inside of her. 

Ohno kissed her temple but took the small badge from her fingers to look at it with a smile. It was the regular pregnancy mark that he knew from other women in the public transportation but having one in his hands was special. It looked like a heart in white with a cute drawing of mother and baby smiling happily. 

“You have to put it on your bag,” he said and got up to get her favourite cross shoulder bag. A small laugh escaped her as she let him put the badge on it before sitting beside her and hugging her tightly. “You are only allowed to take that with you from now on,” he said with a grin. 

“Yes you big dork,” she laughed and kissed him shortly. “I also got those health books and a coupon book. With that, the check-ups won’t be so expensive. I got even reimbursed for the one today,” she explained happily while looking through the handbook which she had already started to fill out with the general information about her. 

All other things would be for later when she had the next appointment at her doctor’s office. It had been exciting to go to their local health centre with the certificate of the confirmation of pregnancy from him. 

“Sounds good,” he said and looked through the book. It didn’t make much sense for him, but it was good that Kazuko had it already he supposed. It also helped that she had the badges to show in public transportations to be able to be more comfortable than without them. Ohno caressed her flat stomach and kissed her again. 

“You make me so happy,” he said and couldn’t help himself when he turned her face to hold it between his hands to kiss her lovingly and softly. It would be a fascinating adventure for them but one that he couldn’t be able to wait for. “We should call our parents now, huh?” he said lovingly after he moved back again before kissing her lips again softly, gently.

“Uhn… But you can call them while I make us dinner,” she grinned and kissed the side of his mouth. 

Ohno chuckled a little at that. He knew that Kazuko was shy when it came to telling people about her and what happened in her life. So it was no wonder that she wouldn’t want to tell their family herself. That was his part. “Okay, sheesh, one would think that you were so happy and proud that you wouldn’t be able to wait to tell the whole world.”

“That’s your calling not mine, Mr Stage-producer,” Kazuko grinned and jumped to her feet before Ohno could retaliate. She threw the phone at her lover and went to the kitchen to make dinner with lots of vegetables.

After he had explained the good news to everyone, important Ohno went over to the kitchen to perhaps help Kazuko. But before he could come close, she shooed him away again. 

“There is a bag with lots of other booklets and goodies. Go and read them,” she said. 

With a roll of his eyes, Ohno nodded and sat down on the sofa with a glass of juice again to look through all the goodies and booklets they got. He was surprised by the sheer amount of helpful advice during the pregnancy as well as the first time with the baby home. He sorted them so that they were on small stacks for when they were useful.

The Do’s and Don’ts for pregnancy were on the first stack together with the coupons they were offered. He felt himself breathing a little bit easier as he went through all the monetary help Kazuko was able to get. His salary wasn’t the worst, but it was mediocre at best, so he had been worried about how to be able to pay for all the expenses they needed to cover until the pregnancy on top of all the new furniture they would need to welcome the new human into their life. 

“Oh by the way: Our parents will visit us on Sunday, and you won’t be able to get out of it. They want to congratulate you themselves,” he said louder. 

Kazuko swore slightly, and he giggled at that. “They’ll bring cake,” he added with a happy voice and could almost hear the big eye roll of his girlfriend at those words.

A short while later Kazuko came back and sat down beside him. She cuddled close to him and closed her eyes for a moment. 

“What about dinner?” 

Kazuko shrugged and rubbed her face at his shoulder. “The rice needs a bit more. I put on the rice-cooker too late. When will kaa-san come?”

“They said around two or three in the afternoon. I told them that you are rather tired at the moment. Mornings are not good because you feel sick and you started taking naps around lunch-time,” he explained as he played with her hair. “Is it bad that they’ll come?”

“No, no. I knew they would come as soon as they got the news. We’ll tell our friends later. They will want to visit as well, and I won’t be able to take all of them on the same weekend.”

“Whatever you prefer,” Ohno promised and stood when the rice-cooker beeped. “Stay seated I’ll get everything ready.”

“Thank you.” Kazuko smiled at him thankfully and got comfortable on the seating cushions in front of their table. “I’m lucky, you know? There are still spots free at my doctor’s in the maternity hospital. It’s scary that all spots for women in that are further than their twelfth week are already booked up,” she mumbled with a shudder. She knew that there were probably still be open spots in other hospitals. But she knew the people there and trusted them. So it was easy to decide to take that open spot her doctor kindly kept open since her first visit three weeks ago.

“No wonder. It is one of the most recommended hospitals in one of your booklets,” Ohno said and came over with two plates filled with fine smelling food. “And it’s close.”

“Yup! To drive through half of the city once every two weeks in the beginning and end would be horrible.” Kazuko took her plate and thanked for the food before beginning to eat it. 

Ohno chuckled and kissed her temple again. His little girlfriend was too cute, and he couldn’t wait to see her with a small cute baby-bump. “We’ll muddle through,” he promised her to which she nodded happily.


	19. Chapter 19

Kazuko sat at the desk bowed deeply over her journal. Her eyes were glued to the small picture the doctor had given her the last time she had visited. She imagined that she could already see where the parts of the baby were. But to be honest, she wasn’t so sure she saw what the doctor had told her. 

She mostly could trace the body out of memory because she remembered exactly what he had pointed out to her. She was happy that the baby was healthy inside of her and she prayed each day that it would continue to be like that. She grinned a bit and put the picture aside to take her journal finally. 

Kazuko carefully looked through it and checked on all the past events she had written down. First, she had thought it was silly to start a diary and to be honest she still couldn’t keep one well. Satoshi was way better with that, and she knew that he would scribble notes in his almost daily when there was a calm moment to do so. Mostly it was in the evenings before he turned off the light to get to sleep. She also knew that his diary had lots of sketches inside that were exciting things that had happened to him or that he had seen.

But with university getting harder and her working schedule she had needed a form of a calendar that worked for her. And she had quickly found out that the normal pre-designed ones didn’t work well for her. She had many pages left empty, or her important dates didn’t fit at all. Also, she wanted something to track her classes with and look what she still needed to do to finish this class or that. 

With many trial and errors, she had finally found a system that worked for her. She liked her small journal that she would customise to fit her needs. Sometimes she tried to doodle but mostly she just used stickers to make it look nicer, or she gave it to Ohno who had fun sketching things for her. It always brought a smile on her face when she looked through it. 

Now for the last few weeks she hardly ever used it. Since she took a break from work and university because of her surgery, her schedule was quite empty. Even now there wasn’t a lot she could do. The term was still going on, and she had to wait for a few more weeks until she could start over again at the next term. If that was even possible, she thought with a sigh. Her hand wandered to her belly, and she stroked it softly. She needed to check if she could continue with her studies or if she needed to take a more extended break. It would be silly to start the new term and then cancelling on her exams because the birth was just around the corner.

So what else to do than to track her pregnancy? Writing everything down also might calm down her nerves. She only needed to decide what she wanted to track in her pregnancy. 

“First probably the weight gains and growth of my stomach,” she mumbled thoughtfully. It would help her to check that she was still in the range that the doctor had recommended her and it could be fun to look at the steady growth. 

Then, of course, she wanted to track how far along she already was to make sure that she had everything she needed before the birth date. She was no perfectionist, but she knew that she panicked easily if she thought she might have overlooked something. And what better to make deadlines for each thing they needed to prepare for accommodating a baby in their home. She could check those whenever thoughts were running through her head that they didn’t have enough time before the baby was there. 

The next list she started was to write down all the necessities they would need to buy for the time shortly after the birth. She didn’t want to stand in front of the car and realise that they forgot the car seat or that they didn’t have any clothes when her water broke. A shudder went through her, and she shook her head. She wanted to be prepared so she wrote down what came to her mind that they might need. She put question marks or exclamation mark for the things she didn’t know if it was essential or just stuff that people tend to buy but never use. She wanted to look those up. The last thing she and Satoshi could afford was to buy unnecessary things. Also, if they could fit in a baby shower, she might be able to ask for some things they needed so that their friends could buy them together. If not they still would get some stuff she wouldn’t have to buy. 

She looked at her pregnancy tracker again and nibbled on her lips and tried to decide at which time a baby shower would be logical. They needed to tell the others first that she was pregnant, but that would happen after this weekend so she wrote down that their parents would be over on the weekend and when she wanted to make the big announcements to their friends. 

She marked the next appointment with her doctor and then made sure to mark all the weeks where the schedules doctor visits would be. When she was sure, she had those appointments all down she tried to remember what she knew about when the doctor could tell her the gender. As far as she knew it would make sense to wait for the baby shower for afterwards so that she could couple it with the gender reveal. 

The next list she made was just stuff she needed to remember and who she needed to inform to make sure that she told everybody who needed to know about the pregnancy in time. It would be bad if she was in the last trimester and then realised she had forgotten to tell the university about it.

Since she remembered all the health books she had gotten earlier, she decided to write all the important bits on two pages for her to have on her all the time. It was easier than having to balance different health books or losing one of them. Then she went back on her growth tracker to mark a section on the same double page to write down her symptoms during the pregnancy. Her doctor had told her that there were a few things she should take not off and if she put it all together, it would be easier for her to find it during examinations.

“What are you doing?” she heard suddenly and felt two arms worming around her neck. She blinked as she hadn’t realised yet that Satoshi was home from work. 

“Setting up my journal for this upcoming pregnancy. I thought it might be helpful and I’m sure it will be fun to look through when it’s all over again.”

“Sounds good,” Satoshi said and kissed her head. 

“I’m sorry I forgot to cook. I will start on something right away,” she mumbled, but he held her only tighter before rolling over a second chair and sitting down beside her. 

“We will order delivery today. Let’s think of other things to check,” he said with a grin. “I want to plan the nursery. May I have a page dedicated to that?” he asked with a pretty smile. 

Kazuko giggled but nodded. “Sounds good. We should also collect ideas for names somewhere right?”

“Sounds like fun,” he agreed and hugged her tightly as he looked the pages over. 

“How about tracker of your pregnancies? Where we can put the scans, and pictures of your growing belly together with things that happened?” he asked softly. “Like the first kick, the last day of morning sickness, all the happy and bad feelings?”

“Sounds good,” she agreed and leant back against him as she wrote those down as well. She felt giddy already when she thought about all the progress she could track now. “It’s strange but making these made it even more real,” she mumbled, and he kissed her behind the ear. 

He took the journal and looked it over once before writing down about what he felt when Kazuko first found out. He still could remember how she looked then, and of course, he would never forget the date. Kazuko leant against him as she read on before writing down how she felt and starting a new page with the status of right now. 

“May I use it as well during your pregnancy?” Ohno asked suddenly. She thought for a moment before nodding. 

“Only if you draw cute doodles once in a while,” she said then, and he chuckled before kissing her. 

“I can’t wait to make these the most beautiful pages out of your journal. But now you should relax on the sofa, and we should order food.”

“Sounds like a plan. I love you.”

“Me as well.” Ohno closed the book carefully and helped Kazuko to her feet. She groaned as she realised how stiff she was from sitting there so long and laid down on the sofa to close her eyes for a moment while Ohno made sure that they would soon have food delivered.


	20. Chapter 20

The talk with their parents went by smoothly. Not that Satoshi had thought that they would be mad. He knew that their parents just waited for them to marry and have children. They might not be thrilled that they weren’t married yet, but they would do it in their way. Like they always did. 

Kazuko was tired when they were finally alone and laid on the sofa under a blanket. Ohno was cleaning up everything and prepared a cup of tea for both of them. 

“Are you asleep?” he asked when he came back to the living room and carefully sat down beside her when Kazuko moved her legs to make space for him. He put the legs on his lap and rubbed her legs.

“Sorry I didn’t help,” she mumbled, taking the tea with a thankful smile. She inhaled the smell of herbs and knew it was the mix of herbs that were meant to calm one down. “No ginger?”

“I thought you would probably start to get ill, smelling ginger,” Ohno teased and grinned when a toe poked his stomach. 

“Next time you are allowed to get pregnant,” Kazuko moaned and sat up more. Ohno grinned and squeezed her feet before glancing at the still flat stomach of his girlfriend. He couldn’t wait to see that small baby bump finally if he was honest. But Kazuko’s mother already told them that she didn’t show until her fifth month. Hopefully, Kazuko would be showing earlier. 

“Feeling ill?” Ohno asked still a bit worriedly. Kazuko got ill a lot, and the only thing that seemed to help at least a bit was ginger in all forms.

“Not right now,” she mumbled and took a sip of her tea. “Just tired.”

“You look tired,” Ohno agreed and drank his tea. “And cold.”

“It’s nicely warm under here,” Kazuko disagreed and shrugged as she sipped her tea. “And comfy.”

“That’s the most important thing, right?”

“Yep. Always.” 

Ohno chuckled at that and squeezed her foot again before finishing his cup and leaning back. “Aaaah… I’m knackered,” he groaned and rubbed his face. “I really love our families, but they are a chaotic and loud bunch of people that get excited far too easily.”

Kazuko giggled and pulled herself up to peck his cheek. Ohno lifted his eyebrow and then moved them around to lie down with her on the big sofa. The cup of Kazuko was safely deposed on the floor beside them, and he pulled the blanket over them both. 

“Comfy,” he decided and put an arm around her. His hand was splayed out on her belly and moved his fingers slowly. 

Kazuko moved around after a moment of silence to be face to face with Ohno and grinned when his hand now was on her lower back. 

Ohno went almost crossed eyed with their sudden closeness, and she moved even closer to kiss his nose. 

“Hi,” she whispered, looking into his eyes.

Ohno’s eyes softened, and his smile grew wider and almost a little lazy. His hand moved further down to touch her butt before he swooped down and kissed her again, a little deeper this time.

Kazuko surrendered to the kiss quickly and moved even closer until they were moulded together head to toe. Se loved being as close as possible to Ohno, and she was quite happy that Ohno felt the same.

She held on close to him and forgot that she had been tired at all.

Ohno’s hand moved to the front and caressed her breath making Kazuko sigh slightly into the kiss as their tongues moved around each other as her hand slipped under Ohno’s shirt to touch the hard muscles and warm skin of her lover. She giggled slightly when her fingers slipped under his waistband, and he couldn’t stop the groan escaping him as she touched his cock. 

Ohno broke the kiss and put his forehead against Kazuko’s as he caressed her skin under her shirt.

“Let’s move this to the bedroom?” she offered and moved forward again to kiss him deeply again. 

“Weren’t you tired?” he asked worriedly, and she rolled her eyes. 

“Mhm… Somehow it blew away, and I would like to do something else much more.”

Ohno chuckled softly and carefully moved them so that he could stand up and carry her over to their bedroom to reconnect. 

— 

Ohno was happy when he woke up before Kazuko and headed for the kitchen to prepare a light breakfast for Kazuko and the dreaded ginger tea. He hated the smell, to be honest, but as long as it helped he was okay with it. He sighed at his thoughts and shook his head. If compared to Kazuko his were little discomforts. 

With the tea, he went back to the bedroom. Kazuko was still sleeping on the big bed laying on her side. One of her arms hugged her belly protectively, and Ohno took a moment to watch the beautiful curve of her body. The blanket had fallen off of her, and the sun fell right onto her, making her skin glow beautifully. 

Ohno smiled a bit ruefully at the thought of waking her up, but they learnt that it was more comfortable if he woke her with tea and something to eat than if morning sickness woke her up. So he sat on the bed to caress her long hair and pushed it a bit back so that he could kiss her temple, cheek and lastly her ear. “Good morning, beauty,” he whispered.

“Toshi?” she asked sleepily, and he chuckled as he helped her up and cradled her close to his body when he realised that she was looking for body warmth. 

“Mhm… Who else?” he asked with a smirk and could practically hear her roll her eyes as he handed over the tea. 

“My secret lover, who else,” she mumbled and took a sip instantly relaxing against him again. 

“Sorry to disappoint then,” Ohno said with a laugh and rubbed her arms. “Hungry?”

“You#ll do,” she mumbled and shook her had as she tried to get even closer. “Still sleepy. Let me be close for a bit longer.”

“Of course.” He grinned as she pulled her on his lap and tugged the blanket closer to put it around her. “Be careful not to catch a cold,” he whispered, and she nodded as she lay her head on his shoulder. 

“I’m meeting with J and Aiba-shi this afternoon,” she mumbled and rubbed her nose on his neck. 

“Sounds good. I’ll be late. Today is middle of the play celebration,” he explained with a sigh. He couldn’t miss it without being frowned upon. 

“Mhmm…” 

“I’m sorry.”

Kazuko laughed and shook her head. “Don’t be. I may be pregnant, but I’m not invalid. I will watch a movie or two and wait for you?”

“It could get really really late. I don’t want you to force yourself,” Ohno said and kissed her cheek. “But I will try to bow out early?”

Kazuko frowned before shaking her head. Ohno always tried not to stay longer than necessary because he knew she hated being alone at night. She was happy that he was no white-collar worker since she knew then he wouldn’t have a chance than to stay late with his colleagues. But once in a while, it was kind of mandatory for him at the theatre as well. 

“I’ll survive. I will go to bed when I’m tired. Just try to be silent when you are home? And don’t get too drunk promise?”

Ohno laughed and nodded. “Promise. I don't want you to get ill because of the smell,” he whispered and kissed the side of her mouth. “You are the bestest of girlfriends you know?”

“Yup,” she said with a big grin and kissed his cheek. “And this girlfriend desperately needs a shower after yesterday’s fun and porridge with fresh fruits and cream for breakfast,” she finally said and put down the empty mug to leave for the bathroom. 

Ohno took the mug and left to prepare the desired food and make new tea for them. 

Kazuko came back after a while with her hair up in a towel since it never seemed to dry fast enough for her taste. She was wearing leggings with an over-sized sweater dress on top that was slightly too long at the arms for her as well as thick woollen socks to protect her ankles from the cold. Even like this, she was beautiful he thought.

Kazuko chuckled as she could already see his thoughts on his face and sat down at the table to begin her breakfast and drink her tea. 

“When do you have to leave?”

“Around lunchtime. It’s a late call today.”

She grinned and nodded slowly. “Good. So you can go grocery shopping with me,” she mumbled with a small frown. Ohno’s mother had brought them a few vegetables from the arm of a neighbour, but they didn’t have anything else but the rice from her parents. 

“Sounds good,” Ohno agreed as he settled down across from her to eat breakfast as well before they got ready to start their days and go out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I skipped the meeting with their parents and will skip the meeting with their friends as well XD I hope this is okay though. And I can't believe it's already 20 Chapters since it was meant to be just a short story xx


	21. Chapter 21

“Break a leg or something like that,” Kazuko said with a grin as she kissed her boyfriend the moment they met up with Aiba and Jun. Ohno had decided to accompany her into the city and then go to work from there on. 

“Have fun with the others,” Ohno responded with a laugh and kissed her again before leaving her in front of the coffee shop. She smiled as she looked after him for a second before taking a deep breath and entering the shop. 

She just hoped that Junko wouldn’t kill her if she told her that she probably wouldn’t fit into the bridesmaid dress by the time her wedding was. She grimaced but then shook her head. Junko would be happy for her. She was sure of that. It just depended on how stressed out Junko was right now. 

“There you are,” Aiba grinned as she reached their table and sat down. “Took you long enough to say goodbye to your beloved Oh-chan,” he teased her. 

She stuck out her tongue before grinning. “You are just jealous that you are single again,” she said with a giggle when he shrugged. Really, she didn’t understand how free Aiba was in that aspect. He had so much love that she had been convinced that he would be the first to marry and adopt a horde of children. 

Her hand found her belly under the table as she thought of children. As scared as she had been for the first weeks as happy she was now. 

“Let’s order,” Junko interrupted their banter and smiled at the waitress who arrived at her table. Kazuko ordered a cup of tea and a slice of the cake that had looked the best earlier. She had drunk a cup of ginger tea before leaving so she hoped that her stomach would hold up. 

“So why did you insist on meeting up with Aiba-shi and me today?” Kazuko asked curiously after their tea arrived and she took a small sip. It tasted wonderful. 

“I need you to decide on my wedding dress,” Junko declared, and Kazuko blanched.

“What?”

“I decided it was time to go wedding dress shopping. We should also decide on a colour for your dress. And since Masaki is going to be Sho’s best man he needs to be there to make sure that my fiance will choose a suit that fits my dress.”

Junko looked at Aiba with a warning glare. “And you WILL go suit shopping with Sho. I don’t trust him to go by himself even if he said he would be fine. His taste is outrageous at best,” she grumbled with a deep frown as she remembered some of the fashion choices of Sho. 

Of course, there wasn’t a lot that Sho could do wrong when he chose a suit, but still, Junko was a little bit scared that he would look like attending a funeral instead of a wedding. 

Kazuko smiled as Aiba nodded and promised, again and again, to make sure that Sho would look perfect on that day and promised even to take him to a hairdresser the day prior to be styled perfectly. Aiba was a good friend, she thought. 

She hoped that she would have enough help for her wedding later as well. She and Ohno still hadn’t decided if they wanted to marry before or after the birth of their small wonder. Kazuko didn’t want to steal Junko’s limelight, and her friend was already so excited about her wedding. 

Junko had always dreamt of marrying and creating a family. It was different for Kazuko. Kazuko always knew that she would stay with Ohno. She was secure about their relationship, and she didn’t need a stamp on it to make sure everybody knew. 

Junko and Sho on the other hand… They had their fights and problems. Since Sho always had been proper in every aspect, she had been nervous about how their relationship would progress the more time it took Sho to propose to her. Now she was over the moon even if she tried to be cool about it. Kazuko knew that the wedding would be an event and she was looking forward to it. 

So it probably shouldn’t have surprised her that it was finally time for Junko to choose her dress so that it could be fitted on her form perfectly and trimmed in the way that Junko wanted it. 

As the maid of honour to Junko it was to be expected that her dress would also be fit perfectly to her form and to Junko’s dress. 

Kazuko sighed softly as she took a piece of her cheesecake and sighed happily at the tangy taste of the matcha in it. “So how many shops will we go through today?” she asked with a frown. 

“One, I hope. I don’t think that it will be easier if we go to different ones. The more dresses I will see the more confused I will get. I know more or less what I want I just need to find the one that looks the best,” she said slowly. 

“And I am with you, because? You have Aiba-shi, and he knows better what looks good than me.”

“That’s the deal you agreed to when you agreed to become my maid of honour. Be happy that I don’t want to have any parties you have to prepare,” Junko said, and Kazuko grinned. 

There would be a tiny party Junko didn’t know about the evening before the marriage, but that was still a secret. 

“I need to tell you something,” she said after she finished most of the cake and asked for another cup of tea. 

“Please don’t tell me that you won’t be there,” Junko almost begged betraying her nervousness and fear. 

Kazuko rolled her eyes and moved forward to hug Junko for a second. “Please calm down, okay?” she asked the other woman. 

“I will be there, Oh-chan will be there, your family will be there, Aiba-shi will be there, and he will drag Sho there as well if he gets cold feet because of the nervous wreck he tends to get when important things happen,” she said and smiled as she sat back. 

“At least if you won’t put the wedding to a later date then it could be a little bit hard,” she said with a smile. 

“What?”

Kazuko grinned sheepishly and put down the fork she used to eat her cake. “I wanted to tell you somehow differently even if I don’t know how… I’m pregnant and just entered my third month so… I might have a problem with the dress in four months; I’m sorry if that will complicate everything,” she said slowly and with a shy smile. 

It was strange, but she always got shy and nervous whenever she talked about her pregnancy.

Both of her friends looked at her in shock for a little moment until Aiba let out a shout and jumped up to hug her tightly. 

“I’m so happy for you. Congrats,” he said happily. 

Kazuko laughed as she carefully put some distance between them and looked at Junko. She was still a bit nervous about her direction because she didn’t want to steal anything from her.

Junko just grinned and squeezed her hand. “I’m happy for you. But we need to tell them when we chose your dress. I’m sure that you have to go there a bit more often than me,” she teased.

“Don’t remind me,” she whined but was glad that Junko reacted that way. 

“And I have to make sure to have enough things without alcohol for you. You need to tell me if you have any cravings that I need to take care of.”

“Of course, thank you,” she said and finally finished her cake so that they could go. At least the day wouldn’t be dull without Ohno, and she would probably be tired enough when she arrived home that sleep would come easily without Ohno by her side.


	22. Chapter 22

Kazuko hummed softly under her breath as she watched the latest concert of her favourite idol group. Ohno was out doing the grocery shopping. Initially, she had wanted to go with him, but it had been a bad morning for her, so Ohno had told her to stay in and enjoy herself. 

After her stomach had calmed down, she had taken residence on the sofa to read a book for her pregnancy when the mailman had brought her the package with the concert DVD. So, of course, she had decided to watch the concert while waiting for Ohno. 

“I’m back home, love,” Satoshi said the moment he opened the door and Kazuko stopped the concert to greet him and help him with the bags. “What were you up to?”

“I got the new concert DVD, so I was watching it,” Kazuko answered after pressing a kiss to his lips and then taking one of the shopping bags. 

Ohno opened his mouth to complain but let her be when Kazuko glared at him. They had enough arguments about him trying to let Kazuko rest as much as possible and do anything for her. She wasn't ill he knew. But he worried a lot about her. So he followed her obediently to the kitchen to unpack the groceries and put meat, fish, milk products and vegetables to their designated places in the fridge before putting a massive pint of ice-cream into the freezer. 

“I brought all the stuff you asked for,” he said, and she grinned before kissing him again.

“Nice, then we can make monjayaki on the big heating plate,” she said with a happy grin and clapped her hands. It was perfect for her cravings since she could make small ones with whatever kind of topping she liked at the moment.

“Sounds good,” Ohno agreed and then took her by the hips to walk her back to the living room where the concert was still frozen on the screen. He rubbed her slight baby bump and kissed her forehead. “But for now, continue with your concert. I need to check on some concept arts for the next play,” he mumbled with a small grin. 

He had been surprised when the theatre had offered him the position of the new art director when his old supervisor retired. Since that meant more free time for him and a better paycheck, he agreed easily, and it was fun to have more freedom now. He also liked to teach the younger people at his work. 

“Okay, but hurry?” she asked with hopeful eyes, and he nodded. 

“Of course. I bought a fruit salad and some rice balls so please eat when you feel like it?”

“I will don’t worry,” she grinned and put her arms around his neck to kiss him again. Ohno laughed as he picked her up to carry her over to the sofa and let her fall on it.

Kazuko shrieked with laughter when she landed on the soft surface and stuck out her tongue before she waved him away as she started the concert again to concentrate on that instead. 

Ohno chuckled softly and kissed her head again before leaving her to go to their small workroom and looked through everything. 

He was surprised when he finished in less than an hour and carefully crept into the living room. A small smile was on his face as he observed Kazuko putting the rest of a rice ball in her mouth. Her hand moved over her belly as she continued to hum softly to the songs coming from the TV. His eyes fell on the TV, and he grinned when he realised that the encore just started. 

Ohno entered the room entirely, still as silently as he could so that Kazuko didn’t realise him coming in directly before coming to stand beside her. He grinned when he pushed the low living room table to the side and pulled Kazuko up. 

“Huh Satoshi?” she asked in confusion, and he giggled softly. 

His eyes were bright and sparkling as he tugged at her hands and began to twirl her around. “Just watching has to be boring. Come on,” he grinned and pulled at her hands again. 

Ohno moved his body to the rhythm of the songs that were playing and forced Kazuko for a small moment to follow his steps until she threw her head back with a loud laugh as she began dancing on her own now. 

Kazuko looked him over as she held his hands in her own and they both continued to dance and move while singing to some of the older songs of Kazuko’s favourite songs. 

Ohno didn’t know many of the newer songs, but he had picked up many of their regular songs since they mostly sang them in each concert. And concert watching was one of the things that Kazuko enjoyed and did fairly often. Especially when she had to study or write essays for university. 

After dancing for almost half an hour to the last songs of the concert and slightly breathless now, Ohno hugged Kazuko close again when the music got slower and more sentimental. He looked at her eyes and moved down to kiss her deeply. 

Kazuko sighed into the kiss and moulded her body against Ohno’s to enjoy the kiss even more. She softly stroke the back of his neck and played with the soft hairs there. It was indescribable how much she loved him. 

They smiled at each other when they pulled out of the kiss before sitting down on the sofa again. 

“You silly man. Now I missed their closing speeches,” she said with a playful pout. 

Ohno shrugged and kissed her again before moving on the sofa until he was able to put his head in Kazuko’s lap. Carefully he pushed the shirt up a little bit and caressed the small baby bump. He couldn’t explain how much he loved Kazuko’s belly and the wonder inside. He put his lips against the warm skin and blew a raspberry against him. 

“Tickles,” Kazuko moaned and hit him softly before playing with his soft hair and starting the concert again from the beginning. 

“Sorry,” Ohno said with a chuckle and kissed her instead lovingly. “What do you think it will be?” he asked and looked up at him. “And how big is it now?”

“Around ten centimetres,” she mumbled and leant back as Satoshi still caressed her belly and peppered it with warm kisses. They stayed like it for almost all of the two hours the concert ran before Kazuko softly shoved him away. “I need the toilet, and then the baby wants to be fed,” she said with a giggle when he looked a bit grumpily up at him. 

“Okay, okay. Go to the bathroom, and I will prepare the heating plate and everything for the cooking. 

“Thank you,” she said softly and kissed him again before hurrying off to the bathroom.


	23. Chapter 23

Kazuko played around with her pregnancy badge on her bag lost in thoughts as she looked around in the pregnancy ward. Her eyes fell to the big clock on the wall, and she smiled softly. She really hoped that Ohno would arrive here on time. 

Initially, they had wanted to go together here today but Ohno had a sudden call from the theatre about something for tonight's show, and he had to go in even if it had been very reluctantly. Kazuko put her hands on her tummy and thought about the screening date for today. 

Of course, she was nervous about it. She had been for all appointments until now. She was always worried that something was wrong, but until now everything had gone perfect. The only downside had been that until now her baby had been happily hiding their sex. Today there was meant to be a special ultrasound, and she hoped that they would be able to see the if it was to be a girl or a boy. 

Kazuko sighed as she was called for the first check-ups to look if everything else was okay with her and the baby before she was allowed back to the waiting room to wait until the doctor would call her in. 

She grinned happily when she recognised Ohno’s voice at the front desk asking for her. Shortly afterwards he entered the waiting room with a low greeting to the other women that were waiting before pressing a kiss to her lips. 

“Hey, love, everything alright?”

“Yup so far the nurses seemed happy with everything,” she said and took his hand in her own to entangle their fingers and lean against him. “Everything good at the theatre?”

“Yeah, the stage director decided that he wanted to go with a new colour scheme. We changed it now, and the rest can do the preparations alone,” he said with a small sigh. Even if it hadn’t been okay, he would have fought for the chance to leave early. He had already missed so many examinations because of work, and he wanted to be able to go to as many as possible now. He was in love with the small bulge of Kazuko’s tummy already and couldn’t wait for it to grow. 

He hoped that Kazuko would let him draw on it on a later stage. He had seen pictures on the internet, and he wanted as many memories of this pregnancy as possible. 

“Ninomiya Kazuko, please,” she was called before the could talk more and he stood before helping her up and following her a bit nervously to the doctor’s office. 

Until now he had never been here for such a thing, and it was something completely new. He bowed down in front of the doctor and sat down on one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

Ohno listened only half-heartedly to the talk of the doctor with his girlfriend. He didn’t understand a lot, but he realised that everything was okay so far and that made him happy. 

“So let’s get to the big next step?” the doctor asked as he stood.

“Sounds good,” Kazuko grinned happily as she stood and took Ohno’s hand to pull him with her to the examination table. She laid down, still holding Ohno’s hand in her own and watched as the doctor prepared everything for the ultrasound and then started it. 

He hummed softly as he moved the stick on her belly and made a few pictures. “It looks great. Everything is in order,” he explained as he pushed a few buttons and Kazuko’s breath hitched as she squeezed Ohno’s hand in her own. 

They listened to the heartbeats for a few minutes. Ohno bit on her lower lips hard. He was a bit overwhelmed that there really was a little human being inside of his lover.

Kazuko smiled and kissed his cheek. She had already heard the heartbeat at one of her earlier check-ups, but she remembered the emotions clearly. 

The doctor smiled as he checked the growth of the baby and noted it all down before looking at the expecting parents again and explaining what they were seeing. They apparently had chosen a good time, Ohno realised as the baby was more active than he had thought possible already. 

“Oh perfect,” the doctor mumbled as he made another picture before moving the stick a few more times. Ohno was bewildered because of the small baby in Kazuko and how well it could already be seen. He looked at the tiny fingers and toes and if asked he would swear that the little nose was just like Kazuko’s. But he knew that he was biased. Still, he would brag about it to his colleagues. 

“Ninomiya-san, you can clean yourself. Meet me at the desk, and then we can talk?” 

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything is just as it’s supposed to be,” he calmed her down quickly and with a smile. 

She grinned happily and relieved as she took a few papers to clean her stomach as Ohno stopped her to do it himself. He pressed a kiss against her hip as he helped her down again. “You are beautiful. Thank you for this wonderful gift,” he whispered.

Kazuko giggled and kissed him on the lips. “You are such a big dork,” she grinned and caressed her belly. It felt as if there were thousands of butterflies inside. She felt it more often in the last few days. First, she had been scared and told Ohno in panic. But then she had looked it up on the internet and found out that it was normal and just meant that her little wonder was moving around. She couldn’t wait for the moment she would be able to grab Ohno’s hand and put it on her stomach to make sure that he felt the movements as well. 

But that wouldn’t be for a few more days sadly. She stood and squeezed his fingers before going to the doctor again. They sat down, holding hands and looked at the doctor curiously about what they would be told. 

“I printed the pictures to take with you,” he said as he offered them the photos, which Ohno took happily as he looked at them again. Kazuko rolled her eyes in amusement before looking at the doctor again. 

“Could you see the gender?” she asked excitedly. She didn’t even know why she needed to know it so desperately, but everybody asked her about it, and at least for her first one, she wanted to know the gender before the birth. She wanted to make the room perfect for her little girl or boy. 

“That’s what I wanted to ask. We never talked about if you want to know or not. But your baby was so active today that it showed us any imaginable angles and it was easy to depict their gender. Would you like to know?”

Kazuko looked at Ohno with wide eyes. She really wanted to know but did Ohno want as well?

Ohno chuckled as he saw her almost begging eyes and nodded with a hum. “Yes, please.”

The doctor smiled as he showed them another picture. “Here you can see it clearly,” he explained and showed her the extremities on the picture and especially where something was missing. “It’s a girl. Congratulations,” he said with a smile. 

Kazuko’s eyes widened at his words, and a broad smile appeared on her face at that. “Thank you, sensei,” she grinned happily and settled down as they got told for what she should look out too. The doctor reminded them again that now would be a perfect time for a small holiday and then they were allowed to go. 

Kazuko smiled as she thanked him again, followed by Ohno as they left the room. 

“A girl?” Ohno repeated as they were outside again. 

Kazuko grinned at his puzzled look, chuckling a little and kissing his cheek. 

“Yup, disappointed?”

“The opposite. A small girl that will be just like you? That’s perfect in my mind,” he explained with a grin before hugging her tightly and slowly twirling her around in his arms. 

Kazuko laughed out loud as she hugged him around the neck and she kissed him on the lips. 

“Let’s go home. Our mothers will bug us about the checkup today,” he said with a smile. Kazuko nodded and held his hand as they went back home slowly. 

Kazuko leant against him as they told their families that they’ll be going to have a baby girl soon. Ohno hugged her close as he put his chin on her shoulder and thought about the comment about a holiday. 

He had realised that the doctor was right. The further Kazuko was going to be the harder it would be to take time off just for the two of them. Something that would be impossible when the baby was born. He was looking forward to their girl a lot, but he also wanted to have that last special holiday with his girlfriend. 

He also knew that Kazuko would say that it wasn’t necessary, but he wanted it to be a surprise. He kissed her cheek and decided that he would surprise her. But he would have to plan it all with Junko and their families because he knew that they all had planned surprises for Kazuko for the next few weeks already and he didn’t want to stand in the way of that. 

“Toshi?”

“Mhm?”

“Let’s go to bed?”

“Are you tired?”

“A bit,” she mumbled with a small yawn. He chuckled as he picked her up to carry her to the bedroom and put her down on the bed before cuddling up beside her and caressing her belly lovingly as she watched her go to sleep. 

He couldn’t wait for the next weeks of the pregnancy. Each day brought new happy things he thought.


	24. Chapter 24

Kazuko rolled up in the bed and hugged the cushion close to herself. She groaned slightly as she felt somewhat ill and closed her eyes tightly. 

“Are you okay?” Ohno asked worriedly as he caressed her long hair. Kazuko looked up at his words and moved her head to kiss the inside of his hand lovingly. 

“I’m fine. I feel slightly ill, but I’ll be fine in a bit. Don’t worry. Just head out for work,” she said as she looked Ohno over. 

Ohno nibbled on his lips but nodded before moving forward to kiss her temple. “There is toast and tea on the bedside table. Eat and drink it when you feel slightly better and call me when you manage to get up okay? I worry otherwise.”

“Of course. Don’t worry about it. Mum and Kaa-san are coming down in a bit as well so I’ll be fine.”

Ohno blinked at the words and looked her over curiously. “They are? Why?”

“Because, my dear, today is the day of the dog, and they decided that I should go to the shrine today before it’s too late,” she explained with a small smile. “I think your grandmother is coming as well.”

Ohno pouted at those words as he played with her hair. “I want to go as well…” he whined slightly. 

Kazuko shrugged at those words. She wouldn’t mind, but she knew that their mothers wanted it to be only with the female parts of their families. So she drew a small circle on his knee. “No can do. It’s a girl’s thing to do. No men allowed,” she said with a grin and moved upwards to kiss his lips. “Go now, or you’ll be late,” she mumbled sleepily. Their parents had a key, so she didn’t worry too much about being asleep when they came in. 

Ohno had given the keys to their parents to make sure that they could come at any time if Kazuko called them if there were any problems and he was not available.

“Remember to wear thick socks,” he said and dropped another kiss on the top of his head. 

“Yes, yes. Go now. I want to take a nap.” Kazuko waved him away which made Ohno giggle as he got up and then finally went to work. 

Kazuko sighed a bit as she closed her eyes and fell to slumber for half an hour more before she felt better and was able to eat her breakfast.

Afterwards, she forced herself out of bed to take a quick shower and get ready for the day. She stood in front of her wardrobe with a deep frown on her face. She had only a few nice clothes from before her pregnancy. There hadn’t been much money for maternity clothes, and almost none of them would fit a visit to the shrine. If she just wore clothes that were for lazing around her mother would kill her, and she really didn’t want to be judged by Ohno’s grandmother. 

She pulled out a few dresses and finally decided on a flowery summer dress. It should still fit her more or less. It was normally a wide summer dress that had an elastic strap right under her breasts and then flowed out. Now you could clearly see her belly under it, but it looked formal enough with a black cardigan on top to hide her bare arms. 

Kazuko smiled softly as she caressed her pronounced belly. It seemed to be more prominent under this dress than with her other clothes. She put on a bit of makeup before pulling her hair into a loosely braided bun to finish it off. 

She was finished just in time when the doorbell rang. She opened the door with a smile and greeted the women with kisses to the cheeks. 

“Hi, do we still have a bit of time? Do you want to come inside?” she asked as she opened the door wider and helped Ohno’s grandmother inside. The old woman was looking forward to meeting her first great-grandchild. Kazuko knew that she still hoped for them to get married before the birth and Kazuko thought that they probably would fulfil her wish as well. At least she would feel better if Ohno would be able to get all the information about her and their little daughter. 

“A cup of tea would be great,” the woman said, and Kazuko nodded as she let them all in and went to the kitchen to prepare four cups of tea for them.

They entered the shrine later in the afternoon. Kazuko was glad that Ohno’s grandmother had already decided to pay for the blessings as she saw it as a special treat for her. Kazuko kissed the old woman on the wrinkled cheek as she took the envelope with the money and offered it to the shrine. The women said their prayers for a safe delivery and a hopefully better rest of her pregnancy. She hoped that it helped that everything would go well. 

She smiled as she looked over the amulet she got and stroke the sarashi wrap she got as well. She knew that she wouldn’t wear it that that often probably because there were more convenient types for that, but it was nice to have it. 

“For you,” her mother said with a smile as she handed her a personalised amulet with her name, age and address on it. She grinned as she put it carefully away and thanked her mother. She would treasure all the things she got today. After all, it meant that her baby and pregnancy would be blessed.

She caressed her belly as they listened to the chants of the priest and a warm feeling spread over her body when she heard him say her name and address so that the Gods would know who to aid for the remainder of the pregnancy. 

Kazuko squeezed the hand of Ohno’s grandmother as she felt the older woman come close. She hugged her softly and smiled as she hid her face in her hair. 

“Are you happy?” Kazuko asked silently as the prayers were over and the people around them slowly left the shrine. He looked. 

“Very. I can’t wait to greet my great-granddaughter,” the woman grinned as she kissed Kazuko’s cheek. “Now only the wedding is missing,” she teased with a slight twinkle in her eyes. Kazuko laughed softly and hugged her close. 

“Let them go in their own pace,” Ohno’s mother said slightly amused. 

“An old woman can wish for things. I don’t put pressure on Kazu-chan do I?”

Kazuko laughed as she shook her head. “No don’t worry. But I need something to eat,” she mumbled as she rubbed her belly. She suddenly wanted to have a big ice-cream with caramel sauce and sprinkles. She frowned as she voiced her wishes. 

Her mother laughed out loud as she took her hand to link her arm with hers. “Then let’s go.”

Kazuko grinned happily as they left the shrine to head for the ice cream parlour and spend a lovely afternoon outside.


End file.
